Cape Breton non-profit prepares to shelter people from the storm

Staff at the Ally Centre in Sydney are planning to stay open Friday and Saturday so people have a place to ride out the storm.

Tents dont hold up well in hurricanes, says Ally Centre executive director

Erin Pottie CBC News Posted: Sep 22, 2022 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: September 22, 2022

A building with a colourful mural on the wall is shown. — Staff at the Ally Centre of Cape Breton say not everyone can access an emergency shelter for the homeless. (Ally Centre of Cape Breton/Facebook)

A Sydney non-profit is scrambling to help people who are homeless or living in inadequate housingahead of this week's storm.

Christine Porter of the Ally Centre of Cape Breton said she's heard from people living in tentswho had no idea that damagingwinds and rains are forecastas Hurricane Fiona makes itswaytoward Atlantic Canada.

"The folks that we're concerned about are the folks that can't go to the shelter, so they'll have absolutely nowhere to go," said Porter.

"Tents don't hold up well in hurricanes. We're really concerned about them. We want them to get through this storm OK."

Donations and supplies sought

A woman with long black hair wearing a denim jacket sits at an office desk with a computer. — Christine Porter is executive director of the Ally Centre of Cape Breton. (CBC)

Porter said there's fear that tents will collapse and injure those living inside. Althoughspace is available in Sydney at ashelter onTownsend Street, Porter said not everyone canstay there for one reason or another.

Ally Centre staff are planning to volunteer their time in order to stayopen all day and night on Friday and Saturday, so that people will have another place to go. To ensure everyone is safe, Porter said they'll need a generator,food, money and things like batteries,lanterns and raincoats.

"We certainly aren't prepared for it," she said. "We're trying to get prepared is what we're doing right nowwe're going to try the best we can."

Preparing for long outages

Cape Breton Regional Municipality said it's working with community partners to make sure people are safe and thatsupplies are available to the people who need them. They also asked residents to prepare forlong power outages.

During a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Nova Scotia's Emergency Management Office saidmunicipalities should be checking on people who they know are homeless or living roughto see if they have shelter.

EMO also encouraged all Nova Scotiansto prepare an emergency kit and have it ready before the storm arrives.

EnvironmentandClimateChangeCanada said the latest information predicts that Nova Scotia will behardest hit byFiona overnight Friday into Saturday.

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