White sand dunes, gem of P.E.I.'s central coast, severely damaged in Fiona
Post-tropical storm Fiona changed the coastline of Prince Edward Island forever, however nowhere is more obvious than the P.E.I. National Park on the island’s north shore.
The storm destroyed entire swaths of it, and with recovery efforts now underway, it’s slow going as crews deal with the devastation.
Across the park, between 10 and 30 feet of iconic shoreline is gone.
Huge dunes and white sand beaches -- a stark contrast from P.E.I.’s normally red soil -- disappeared into the sea.
There had been significant efforts to preserve the dunes in recent years, but now many are gone.
“We don’t necessarily have a full picture of what that means for these ecosystems,” said James Eastham, Parks Canada Information Officer. “That’s one of the questions that our park ecologists here will be studying over the weeks, months, and years ahead.”
The destruction extends beyond the beach. There’s been significant damage to the trees, many of which were knocked down blocking roads, slowing assessment and cleanup efforts.
“The complexity of the tree removals, and how intricate the trees were, the quantity of them, and all the attention and compression forces that are at play,” said Parks Canada Safety Officer Sebastien Marcoux.
Eleven national crew and 34 local staff, along with specialized contractors to operate heavy equipment, are working to untangle the mess and clear debris.
“We don’t see the scale of this many downed trees, but we definitely see many strong winds that will pile trees like that in a smaller scale,” said Marcoux.
The park has been closed because of Fiona and there’s no timeline yet as to when it can reopen.
“Erosion at Cavendish, and blown down trees at Stanhope,” said Eastham. “A lot of the shoreline will look quite different when visitors return.”
The devastation is clear, but staff don’t yet have enough information to compare this to previous storms. They say that work is ongoing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.