‘We are going to see similar storms more frequently’

A view of Dalvay beach on on Oct. 5, almost two weeks after post-tropical storm Fiona. The lighter sand marks where the dunes used to start. Rafe Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

By Rafe Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Guardian

Oct 07, 2022

COVEHEAD, P.E.I. — Sections of beach along P.E.I.’s north shore are almost completely gone, and experts are now saying the province has never seen such historic levels of erosion.

At a guided media tour by Parks Canada staff of Brackley to Dalvay on Oct. 5, James Eastham, incident information officer for Parks Canada P.E.I.’s recovery efforts, told SaltWire Network said there are still many sections of the park that are inaccessible.

“What we’re seeing is three to 10 metres of coastal erosion,” Eastham said.

James Eastham, information officer for Parks Canada in P.E.I., said many areas in the national park have not been assessed yet, as they are still blocked by large trees. Rafe Wright • The Guardian

All three provincial park regions in P.E.I. — Cavendish, Greenwich and Brackley-Dalvay — were heavily affected by the storm surges brought on by post-tropical storm Fiona on Sept. 23.

Parks Canada has so far been working to get the main roads cleared.

Campgrounds and sections of forest in the surrounding area are still being assessed, but progress could be slow as the area is still considered a hazard to the public.

The foot-wash station at Stanhope beach is almost all that remains at the beach entrance. – Rafe Wright

“Our initial work is focused on first assessing the impacts of the storm,” said Eastham. “We have crews working on plans to restore those areas.”

“In the past, we’ve seen certain places lose five metres, but that’s considered to be crazy-high erosion numbers. We’re talking three times that in terms of some people’s damage which is just insane.” – Adam Fenech, director at UPEI’s climate lab

In the coming weeks, Parks Canada will begin discussions about what next year looks like in terms of the services it will be able to offer along the coastlines.

Up to 10 metres of shoreline was lost at Stanhope beach during post-tropical storm Fiona. Much of the infrastructure is place was washed away by the heavy storm surge. – Rafe Wright

Coastal erosion

Long-term impacts of the historic levels of coastal erosion are still unclear, but it is likely many wildlife ecosystems will take years to recover.

“Those are questions experts will be asking over the coming months,” said Eastham.

Adam Fenech, director at UPEI’s climate lab in St. Peters Bay, has been measuring coastal erosion on the Island for the past seven years.

Some areas have reportedly lost almost 15 metres of coastline, numbers the province has never seen, Fenech told SaltWire Network on Sept. 29.

“In the past, we’ve seen certain places lose five metres, but that’s considered to be crazy-high erosion numbers,” said Fenech. “We’re talking three times that in terms of some people’s damage which is just insane.”

A section of road washed away at Covehead beach on Oct. 5. Before post-tropical storm Fiona, this was a continuous dune. – Rafe Wright

Over the coming weeks, Fenech and his team will use their fleet of 70 drones, the largest fleet at any university in Canada, to determine just how widespread the damage is, and what this will mean going into the winter.

“It’s going to be several years before (the dunes) get back up to shape. It was a very severe storm, the likes of which we’ve never seen before,” he said.

Storm systems like this will, unfortunately, become more common in the future, Fenech added.

“Nature has been giving us all the warnings. This is no surprise, we are going to see similar storms more frequently.”

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Entrance to beaches at Brackley, Dalvay, Cavendish and Greenwich will remain closed and Parks Canada officers will remain posted at these locations until further notice.

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