St. Mary’s Mayor Steve Ryan describes Tuesday night’s events as “a perfect storm.”
After just an hour of sleep, Ryan told CBC Radio he was devastated to see that the city’s fish plant, owned by St. Mary’s Bay Fisheries, had burned down.
“The conditions were just unbearable,” he said Wednesday morning, illustrating a scene of intense fire amid hurricane-force winds in his small National League city.
About 20 residents evacuated their homes to remain at City Hall until the early hours of the morning, Ryan confirmed.
The fishery plant was the region’s largest employer with more than 300 workers, both from the St. Mary area and abroad, during its peak season. The mayor said it provided good, well-paying jobs.
“We had a success story here… It’s really painful,” he said, his voice shaking.
“Many people planned their lives around the plant.”
Ryan said the fire broke out Wednesday morning, likely due to continued high winds. He said it is now under control.
Winds along the southern Avalon Peninsula reached gusts of 172 km/h on Tuesday. Environment Canada’s wind warning remains in effect for the Avalon Peninsula throughout Wednesday, with gusts of up to 110 km/h expected along the coast.
A coastal flood warning is also in effect for southern Avalon.
Communication blackout
Ryan and St. Vincent Mayor Verna Hayward said the situation was further complicated when the power went out, taking any available cell service with it.
Hayward told CBC News the loss of the fish farm is also tragic for his town, but people couldn’t call and check on each other when the power went out while it burned.
“We had no phone communication,” Hayward said. “When something like a fire happens, we don’t have time to knock on doors… We’re paralyzed.”
The mayor of San Vicente said mobile coverage can be spotty in that area on a good day. She would like that to change.
Closures and cuts
Flooding on Route 90 through St. Vincent’s Beach has forced the road to be closed in both directions. The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure advises people to avoid the area.
As of Wednesday morning, 41 customers remained without power from St. John’s to the South Coast, according to Newfoundland Power’s website.
In Long Harbor and Coley’s Point, 272 people were still without power.
There was still no power for 806 customers on the Burin Peninsula and 1,307 from Sunnyside to the Bonavista Peninsula and surrounding areas.
In the area from Gander to New-Wes-Valley and nearby communities, 1,217 customers woke up without power.
In the communities of Seal Cove-Wild Cove, Point of Bay, Cottrell’s Cove and Fortune Harbour, 584 were without power at the time of this writing.
Glenda Power, director of communications for Newfoundland Power, says most power should be restored by midday NT Wednesday.
“Hopefully we don’t have any more outages, but that’s a little unpredictable right now given that the winds are still strong,” he said in an interview on The St. John’s Morning Show.
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