The hell of high water: North Rustico cafe will be on the move to avoid more flooding
Owners struggled to insure Blue Mussel Café after Fiona drove home its vulnerability
The Blue Mussel Café will be moving from its current site in North Rustico after this tourism season because the owners can't face a future that involves risking their livelihood in a flood zone.
Christine McQuaid and her husband Steve Murphy have owned the popular restaurant for 12 years.
"In 2022, we had Fiona, and it was devastating," McQuaid said of the post-tropical storm that swept over Prince Edward Island after creating havoc on its path north from the Caribbean.
"The water came right through here... Everything was ruined," she said.
Then last year, an updated interactive mapping tool called CHRIS (for Climate Hazard and Risk Information System) was launched by the provincial government, in partnership with UPEI and the federal government. The project aims to show users which parts of the province are most at risk from rising seawater and extreme storms. Turns out the Blue Mussel is located in one of them.
Luckily, McQuaid and Murphy had insurance at the time, but not everything was covered. And worse was to come.
"In 2024, our insurance skyrocketed and then we had no flood coverage with it. And so our broker tried and tried and tried to go place to place to place to find somebody to cover it, and it's just — no one will do it," she said.
McQuaid said she doesn't think they're alone in trying to find coverage, especially after a storm like Fiona.
"I'm not terribly sure, but I feel like the insurance companies are using that [CHRIS] map as a guideline... and I can understand. Why would they want to insure something that's sitting in a flood zone?"
High tide anxiety
The couple finally came to the decision they had to move late last year.
"Last December and last January, two different days we got a phone call... It was a high tide day and we were told we better come take a look," Murphy said.
They drove to the restaurant and pulled into the parking lot.
"There was three feet of water, and we sat in the truck with the water going underneath the truck, and [it was] around this close from the water taking on the building again," he said.
The first time, Murphy thought the high water was just a "one-off" occurrence.
"It happened again in January and we started thinking, you know, 'We gotta do something.'"
Moving next to Oyster Bed Bridge
On the drive home, Murphy said they spotted a "for sale" sign on a restaurant about 10 minutes away from the Blue Mussel, the former RiverShed restaurant across from Gaudreau's Fine Woodworking.
"We drove by Oyster Bed Bridge and we saw this restaurant for sale, and it was high and dry... It was nowhere near the flood zone, and we thought: 'That would make a pretty good Blue Mussel one day.'"
Murphy said the new spot is the same size, but with lots of parking, and is a "beautiful spot, right on the water."
The couple didn't want to have to leave their current location, and will be still operating out of North Rustico Harbour this summer, but Murphy said they have to take the threat of flooding seriously.
"It was a once-in-100-[years] storm when Fiona came through, and it was high, but in December we were this close without even a storm, so I think that once-in-100-years will get closer and closer," he said.
"To find out we're in a flood zone — we have to take that seriously."
"It's a really hard decision, but I think it'll be one of those things where five years down the road, I'll look back and say, 'OK, it was the right decision,'" McQuaid said.
"I'm struggling now with the decision... and I struggled all through the process of making the decision.
"I went back and forth in my mind a lot, but I do know sometimes your head has to come before your heart, and yeah, our heart's in this place for sure."
With files from Sheehan Desjardins