‘We will keep plugging away': Post-Fiona debris cleanup continues in Halifax

Dozens of Halifax area neighbourhoods remain littered with branches, chunks of trees and entire trees blocking sidewalks.

When Matthew Barkhouse’s wife looked outside Saturday morning, she started making phone calls.

“She contacted 311 and she got a response right away,” said Barkhouse.

But no timeline was provided on when cleanup crews will remove the tangled mess of branches on their front lawn. Barkhouse has started the job already.

“I am hoping to take a bit of work load off of the guys who have to come out," said Barkhouse.

Nova Scotia residents can still apply for provincial assistance - $250 is available per person to help with debris removal caused by Fiona.

Emergency Management Division Chief Erica Fleck said clean up work has been nonstop, over a broad area.

“We have a listing of hundreds of spots across HRM, blocking the sidewalk and blocking the roads," said Fleck. "And we’re tracking every single one of those.”

Some debris zones are higher priority, like those near schools and access routes.

"We will keep plugging away until it’s all cleared up and it won’t be long,” said Fleck.

According to Halifax resident Andrew Lilly, progress is evident. However there is still a lot that needs to be done to clean up the streets around his home.

Lilly is already examining strategies that can be applied to future hurricanes and tropical storms.

“We were here during Dorian and this feels like Dorian all over again," said Lilly. "And why can’t we learn from Dorian or this most recent storm Fiona.”

Lilly says, ideally, we would be better prepared for future major storms, which could minimize the amount of debris.