Communities in Atlantic Canada are assessing the damage after Hurricane Fiona ripped through the region, destroying homes, downing powerlines and flooding roads..Fiona made landfall as a post-tropical storm in Nova Scotia early on Saturday. It downed countless trees and powerlines, leaving hundreds of thousands of people across Atlantic Canada without power. In other communities, storm surges destroyed homes and flooded roads..In Newfoundland & Labrador, homes were washed away or flattened, while flooding left communities isolated. In Port aux Basques, boulders and debris were scattered across the community, leaving residents to use shovels to look for anything salvageable.."What's actually happening here is total devastation," said Port aux Basques Mayor Brian Button, who said residents are being ordered to evacuate.."We are going to force people out of their homes if we need to. They need to go," he said. "I'm telling you, it is a mess out there.".Power outages are still widespread on Sunday morning, with more than 375,000 customers in the dark across the four Atlantic provinces, including nearly 272,000 in Nova Scotia..In Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) the majority of the province was left without power. P.E.I. Premier Dennis King said on Saturday the road to recovery will be "weeks or longer," since the damage to the province is perhaps "the worst we've ever seen."."It will be an all-hands-on-deck approach," he said of the assessment and recovery process. .The story was similar in New Brunswick, with roads flooded, homes destroyed and tens of thousands were without electricity. Residents there are also being asked to stay away from dangerous, storm-ravaged areas..On Saturday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the Canadian Armed Forces will be deployed to help Nova Scotia recover from damage caused by the storm. Trudeau said he has spoken to the premiers of Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec.."I told them if there is anything the federal government can do to help, we will be there," Trudeau said..Trudeau said over the next 30 days, the federal government would match Red Cross donations from Canadians to help those impacted by the storm..The prime minister also told reporters he will no longer be travelling to Japan for the state funeral of Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated back in July..Defence Minister Anita Anand said the Canadian Armed Forces is currently carrying out reconnaissance to determine where they should deploy to help in Nova Scotians.."As soon as this is completed, the troops will be deployed to assist with the tree and debris removal, and the restoring of transportation links and whatever else is required — for as long as it takes," Anand said.
