Fiona caused permanent pain and damage to Port aux Basques area, mayor says

Residents of Channel-Port aux Basques once thought their community and homes could withstand any storm, butpost-tropical storm Fiona changed their perspectives.

Sept.24is a dubious anniversary for the community located on Newfoundland's southwest coast.

"We always thought we lived in a place where we could withstand it all, but we found out that we couldn't," saidMayor Brian Button about the 2022 storm that battered the coastal community.

Button describes his town aslookinglike a "war zone" at the time.

Homes were destroyed and 73-year-oldThelma Leamandied.

Button said the town's residents still carry the weight of the event with them today and many continue to grapple with Leaman's loss.

"There were people in this that lost everything that they had," he said.

"When the news had went around our community that this person was lost, we had lost Thelma, it was something that affected a lot of people."

Whats changed and lingers since Fiona hammered Port aux Basques

5 days ago

Duration 5:24

Its a dubious anniversary. September 24, 2022 saw post-tropical storm Fiona devastate Newfoundlands southwest coast, claiming the life of a woman who was swept out to sea and causing $47 million in damage. The CBCs Carolyn Stokes spoke with Channel-Port aux Basques Mayor Brian Button about the past and now.

Forever changed

Channel-Port aux Basque is not the community its residents both current and former once knew.

Button said about 85 homes were destroyed by Fiona and 57 more are slated to be torn down as a precautionary measure for futurestorms.

"That's a lot of homes in a small community to lose," Button said.

In 2021, the population of the community was 3,547.Button said the townlost some of those residentssince the storm.

"Some people have left and moved on to other communities," he said.

For the town's most vulnerable residents seniors and low-income families building a new home wasn't an option.

Button said there was a housing crunch in the community evenbefore the storm hit. It was exacerbated after the fact.

"Some in their 80s,building a brand new home and starting all overprobably wasn't in the cards," he said. "It's just been hard to start all over."

While residents may not think about the storm every day anymore, Button said they are reminded during tourism season.

"When they come back to visit family and come back to the community seeing it for the first time is certainly jaw-dropping," he said. "We've come accustomed to seeing it the way that it is now."

And when there's word of a storm coming, there is a renewed sense of unease.

"You can sense the anxiety in our communities," said Button."People are talking about it and people are talking about it in a different way."

On The Go16:16Post-tropical storm Fiona two year anniversary

It as two years ago today that post-tropical storm Fiona slammed into the southwest coast of Newfoundland... changing the physical landscape and the mental outlook of people living in the area. We check in with the mayor of Channel-Port aux Basques to find how the community has fared since then. (Krissy Holmes with Brian Button)

Button encourages residents to talk to a professional ifthe storm is affecting their mental health.

"I did it. I'm the leader of the community. I had to seek and sit and talk to professional help and talk about the things that I had on my mind, and there's probably a lot of people in our community that need to do that as well," Button said.

"The place looked like a war zone when it happened and I don't think any of us had to witness that in our lifetime."

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