Covering Hurricane Fiona

Upon arriving in downtown Port Aux Basques (on September 25), the RCMP had the area blocked off. No vehicles were permitted, I spoke with the RCMP and they okay’d me going down. An openness that would later be echo’d later on by the mayor. I parked at the Town Hall and continued on foot.

Hurricane Fiona/Port aux Basques: The First Cove

The first person in Port aux Basques that I’d have a connection with is Don Loder. Don is the 2nd person from the right in the above photo standing in his neighbours yard. Or on the left in the below photo, where Ryan Allen (right) arrived wanting to help. Don gave me a great history of the area and was upbeat.

Don gave me a tour of his neighbours properties. Knowing in great detail a history on the area and previous storms. His house appeared to have suffered minimal damage. We went for a walk around the area.

As Don and I went to the other side of his neighbours house, we saw Brian Button (yellow jacket in above photo) speaking with Amy Osmond (far left). Amy’s home was destroyed. Amy lived in the area I thought of as, the first cove. We’ll talk about her a bit later.

Enter Brian Button.

Brian Button is the mayor of Port aux Basques. The mayor and his team were out walking around the town, documenting the damage.

The response I received from Brian was welcoming. Brian had asked who I was and after informing him I was covering the storm for Reuters, his response was good, we need to get this story out to the world. I would end up walking with Brian and his team as they went about seeing and documenting the damage.

Hurricane Fiona/Port aux Basques: Second Cove

I continued to walk along the coast with the Port aux Basques staff, staying out of the way not to interrupt them but to capture the imagery. Keeping quiet as they went about their business. The town officials folk knew the small town, they knew who lived in each of the houses. Who owned it before the current owners and what they are up too.

As we continued down around houses, back onto the road, we came to the third cove.

Hurricane Fiona/Port aux Basques: Third Cove

The above image was the one I was betting on for making a few covers, my second bet was the one that did make the cover of the Globe & Mail.

As we continued to walk, search and rescue continued to search the coastline for a missing lady. Three-four people were dragged out to sea from Port aux Basques, one wasn’t recovered.

We eventually made it around the coast past the significant part of the damaged area. The entire way, the mayor was hugging people and offering support. When we got back to the mayors truck, it was his much needed break. It seems our walk picked up towards the end. The community was devastated and so was the mayor.

After the town walk was over, I went up to the Search and Rescue trucks. Next page.