Islanders glad Fiona disaster relief deadline being extended, but anxious about storm season

Until two years ago, Gail Carr loved visiting the wharf in Stanley Bridge where her husband had his lobster fishing boat and three storage buildings.

"It sure doesn't have the same feel, much less the same look," she said this week.

The "horrible day" that changed Carr's perception of the area was Sept. 24, 2022, when she and every other Islander woke up to post-tropical storm Fiona's devastation.

The sustained winds blew the Carrs' boat and floating docks over the wharf and sent them crashing into the storage buildings, knocking them off their blocks.

'They were full of water, seaweed, mud, sticks, logs — you name it,' Gail Carr says of the buildings where husband was making and storing lobster traps. (Steve Bruce/CBC)

"They were full of water, seaweed, mud, sticks, logs — you name it," Carr said. "There was a lot of cleanup to do."

More than two years later, the Carrs are still trying to find a contractor to move the buildings onto higher blocks and repair them, so they can access reimbursement from the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program for the cost of uninsured repairs.

The province partnered with the Canadian Red Cross to launch the financial relief program just after Fiona struck in September 2022. It was meant to run for a two-year period, with a deadline of Sept. 30 of this year to finalize claims.

Luckily for people with outstanding applications, like the Carrs, the province said that deadline has now been extended until at least the end of December.

"The team has been working diligently with all clients and have processed 99 per cent of the claims that have been submitted over the two-year period," a spokesperson for P.E.I.'s Department of Justice and Public Safety said in a statement to CBC News.

"The remaining files are those larger files that may require input from external parties and detailed paperwork; however, the team will continue to work to process the less than 50 submissions that remain."

The spokesperson added that most of the remaining applications relate to commercial claims that are larger in size, often requiring detailed paperwork and proof of the damage.

'Waitlists a mile long'

For the provincial financial assistance to kick in, repairs must be completed and invoices sent out by the contractors involved. After that, people can submit their claims to the Red Cross for reimbursement.

Fiona caused unprecedented damage across P.E.I., particularly along vulnerable areas like coastlines and wharves like the one in Stanley Bridge. (Submitted by Barbara Doiron)

The Carrs are still trying to find a contractor that can do the repairs on their buildings.

"The lists that the construction companies have are so long, and they already had waitlists a mile long probably before Fiona even hit, so that just added to the extra workload that they have. So we're kind of just stuck in the process," Carr said.

"I understand everybody's busy, but at some point we have to get these fixed. My worst concern is 'what if?' What if we get another storm before we get these [repairs]?"

Soon after Fiona, the province partnered with the Construction Association of P.E.I. to set up a phone line people could call for help finding a contractor to do repairs.

Sam Sanderson, general manager of the Construction Association of P.E.I., says contractors were already backlogged with housing construction projects before Fiona hit. (Steve Bruce/CBC)

Sam Sanderson, the association's president, said it was difficult to find anyone with the capacity to take on extra work in a construction industry already overburdened with trying to alleviate P.E.I.'s housing crisis.

"The demand has never been greater and the pressure and stresses around trying to find enough skilled people and the financial risks … are all having an impact — some good, some not so good — on contractors," Sanderson said.

"There's not a contractor right now that's not looking for skilled individuals, not only in Prince Edward Island but right across Atlantic Canada."

'I never thought we’d be in another hurricane season and still be in the same position that we were this time last year,' says Carr. (Steve Bruce/CBC)

For the Carrs, the waiting game continues.

While their insurance policy covered repairs to the lobster boat, it did not cover all of the damage to the three storage buildings on the wharf.

The couple has had to rent a trailer to store lobster traps for the past two fishing seasons, adding to their overhead costs.

With her husband hoping to retire soon, the couple is counting on the provincial relief program to not leave them with unwanted debt when that time comes.

While the deadline extension has been a relief, Carr can't help but think back to Sept. 24, 2022 — and worry about the future — every time she visits the wharf.

"I never thought we'd be in another hurricane season and still be in the same position that we were this time last year," she said.

"I'm hoping that we'll get through unscathed this year, but you never know."