Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said on Sunday her troops would help clear fallen trees in eastern Canada, restore transport links and do whatever else was necessary.
Without specifying the number of troops to be deployed, Anita said Canadian troops would be deployed to affected areas, including Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Quebec.
Cape Breton Regional Municipality Mayor Amanda McDougall said the military presence was essential to help clear debris and repair access roads to the storm-damaged airport.
“Over 200 people were displaced and 70 roads were completely inaccessible. People listened to the warnings and did what they had to do and here is the result,” he said.
As reported by Al-Jazeera on Monday (9/26), so far the Canadian side has not reported Fiona’s death toll. However, 5 people have been confirmed dead in a storm in the Caribbean.
According to Canada’s Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Bill Blair, the damage caused by Hurricane Fiona was severe and it would take months to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure.
“The scale of the storm we are facing is, I think, unprecedented. I’m sure it will take a few months to recover,” Bill said.
Not only were buildings affected, but residents also had to suffer massive power outages. More than 415,000 Nova Scotia Power users have been affected by the outage since the storm hit.
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