Fiona's impact 'stark' at P.E.I. National Park

P.E.I. National Park will look much different when it reopens to the public, though there is no timeline on when that might be.

The park, which measures about 60 kilometres along the north shore, suffered significant damage from post-tropical storm Fiona, including toppled trees, badly damaged roadways and trails, and up to 10 metres of erosion in some parts of the coast.

"I think everyone is taken aback, I guess this is the way I would describe it," James Eastham of Parks Canada said during a media tour of the area around Brackley, Covehead and Stanhope on Wednesday.

"The impact has been very stark and it's very obvious, and I think everyone's a little bit sad about what has been lost, but also pretty determined to recover from this and to move forward."

All sections of the park were hit to varying degrees, he said.

"One of the most stark images is up at Greenwich Beach. There's been about 10 metres of erosion on the beach and you can see where the dunes used to come and now where they are and it's really quite striking."

Piping plovers and bank swallows had already migrated south and were not present during the storm, Eastham said. But it is likely that there will be localized loss of habitat in some areas and gain of habitat in others.

"For example, bank swallows depend on exposed raw cliff where bank has eroded and slumped."

Parks Canada has dozens of people assessing the damage, including 15 people from across Canada with expertise in incident response and 11 wildland firefighting crew members who are working to clear trees. The rest are Atlantic region staff and some contractors. 

No timeline has been set for when the park will reopen, Eastham said, but he expects it will come in stages. He said details will be shared as soon as they are available.

"We know that Islanders are eager to get back out and see the park and we want to welcome them back but for now we're asking people to just give us the time and space we need to work safely."