Red Cross says more than $30M in Fiona aid distributed on P.E.I. so far

Red Cross officials say 63,000 P.E.I. households have registered for assistance so far because of the impact of post-tropical storm Fiona.

Of that number, more than 61,000 have received a $250 payment administered by the Red Cross on behalf of the province of Prince Edward Island.

That's a total of about $15.2 million, with an additional $15.6 million distributed to about 26,000 Island households that felt a more significant impact from the September storm.

The money is being distributed through e-transfers (84 per cent of all payments), mailed cheques (10 per cent), and prepaid credit cards given out at Red Cross reception centres in Island malls.

Those reception centres saw long lineups when they first opened.

"We're seeing fewer people arrive each and every day," said Bill Lawlor, the Red Cross provincial director for P.E.I. and New Brunswick operations.

"That's a sign of things certainly improving."

Lawlor said applications for aid continue to come in. 

Red Cross locations still operating

No decision has been made on when the reception centres might close, he added. 

"We continue to evaluate, and we will be throughout the rest of this week, to determine what is the requirement for us to continue to have that presence ... or at which time should we be looking to scale back," he said.

"You have to make sure that we are providing the most adequate support to those who still require it."

The Insurance Bureau of Canada has said Fiona was the most costly extreme weather event ever recorded in Atlantic Canada in terms of insured damages.

It caused an estimated $220 million in insured damage on Prince Edward Island alone, according to an initial estimate by Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc.