States of local emergency declared for Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Victoria County
A state of local emergency has been declared for the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) and Victoria County amid widespread power outages, road closures, displaced residents, and structural damage as post-tropical storm Fiona makes its way across the island Saturday morning.
Peter Gregg, the president and CEO of Nova Scotia Power, says a satellite emergency operation centre will be opening in Sydney, acting as the second command centre to the one in Halifax.
Island residents are being asked to shelter in place. If shelter has failed, call 911 for evacuation. A Red Cross emergency shelter was opened at 8 p.m. Friday at Centre 200 in Sydney for anyone seeking refuge.
CBRM Mayor Amanda MacDougall says they were unable to open all planned comfort centres -- additional centres added Saturday -- due to damage on sites, including downed live wires. She added many of the centre volunteers are also first responders who have been on the ground since Fiona hit. She says an updated list of centres will be provided shortly, but asks residents to wait to travel to them until given the "green light that they are ready to operate."
Comfort centres are opening when local travel is declared safe by officials.
Cape Breton residents Arlene and Robert Grafilo fled to Centre 200 with their children - aged three and 10 -- after a massive tree fell on their duplex apartment, trapping them in their basement unit.
"We heard a lot of noise outside and then we realized that there are a lot of cracks in the house and we looked outside and saw the tree had fallen," said 43-year-old Arlene Grafilo.
"We were trapped and we couldn't open the doors and the windows, so that's when we decided to call 911. The children were scared," she said, adding firefighters eventually rescued them.
"It is currently not safe to travel. Downed power lines and trees are a significant hazard. Please remain sheltered," wrote Christina Lamey, the communications officer for CBRM, Saturday morning.
"The first responders are really stretched right now. We want people to stay off the roads."
MacDougall says the municipality is littered with "a lot of damage."
"Houses have lost their roofs, there are lots of trees that are down that are causing structural damage, there are power lines and power poles that are everywhere, so travel is very, very difficult right now. Quite frankly, it's near impossible," she said.
MacDougall says it was decided that keeping as many people home as possible would be the safest for everyone.
"There's no place that have been spared. I'm seeing pictures from Louisbourg, on the north side, there are houses that have literally blown to the ground," she said. "We do have a shelter in place for people who need to evacuate. That is in Sydney. We also need to make sure that there are going to be places when it is safe to travel that people can get to."
In a news release sent Saturday at 2 p.m., Cape Breton Regional Police said they were seeing a significant number of vehicles travelling on unsafe roads, covered with downed trees, power lines and other debris.
According to the police force, there were more than 70 roads across the municipality that are compromised and impassable at that time.
"Extra vehicles create more hazards for emergency responders. Please shelter in place and stay off the roads until Public Works and Nova Scotia crews can clean up for safer driving conditions," reads the release.
During a live news conference Saturday, Halifax Mayor Mike Savage spoke on behalf of CBRM Mayor Amanda MacDougall who could not join the conference due to connectivity issues.
He shared a statement from Mayor MacDougall that read, in part, "The last 24-hours have been surreal. We are still in the thick of the hurricane with wind speeds maintaining significant levels, and our crews on the ground trying to triage emergency situations and take care of our neighbours in need."
"Power outages are vast, cell phone service is now unreliable and travel around the region is hazardous."
According to the mayor, the local state of emergency in the CBRM was declared because of the the downed lines, trees, flying debris and the sheer number of people in need of support.
"We are steadily moving up in the hundreds of people who have been displaced because of the storm. Remarkably, there have been no injuries that have come out of the hurricane so far," read the mayor's statement.
With files from The Canadian Press.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Trudeau promises $1B in loans for child-care providers to expand care centres
The federal government is launching a new loan program to help child-care providers in Canada expand their spaces, and will be extending further student loan forgiveness and training options for early childhood educators, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.