(Chris Hayes – Cape Breton Post )
Premier Darrell Dexter checks out work on the temporary bridge across the Salmon River into Meat Cove, Monday.
Premier tours area, impressed by response of residents
MEAT COVE — Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter toured this remote northern Cape Breton community Monday for a first-hand look at the destruction that was caused when torrential rain destroyed bridges cutting off access on the only road.
Topics :
Infrastructure Renewal Department , Cape Breton Victoria Regional School Board , Meat Cove River , Salmon River , North America
The premier arrived on a good-news day for Meat Cove, as a temporary replacement bridge over the Salmon River was finished and road access was restored. A Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal official said Monday the road was open for local residents and emergency vehicles only right now.
Road crews have been working long hours building temporary replacement bridges and restoring the road since the freakish rain event over the Aug. 21-22 weekend.
Leaving Meat Cove after the tour, Dexter said he was impressed by the destructive power of the torrential rain event, and by the response of local residents.
“Trees were uprooted, huge boulders were moved,” Dexter said, in an interview beside the Meat Cove River, where a temporary bridge replaces a structure that was completely washed away. “It was an astounding natural event. I think that for most people, you couldn’t understand the magnitude of what happened unless you were here.”
The response of local residents who looked after tourists who were stranded in Meat Cove until most were evacuated by boat made the community an example of compassion and generosity, he said.
“What could have been a terrible story about a person’s experience in Meat Cove turned out to be an extraordinary story which is being reported in newspaper articles and magazines all over North America and Europe, so it’s amazing.”
The premier also praised the efforts of road crews who have been labouring long hours to build replacement bridges.
Dexter said in addition to replacing the bridges, the province is also assessing funding to have local residents hired to clean up fallen trees and other debris.
“That’s going to make a part of the province’s response,” he said.
Local municipalities could act as contractors hiring local residents, he said.
The province is also assessing an application to the federal government for disaster assistance, he said.
Derrick MacLellan, who has emerged as a spokesman for the community since the disaster, said people who have lost their jobs in this year’s washed-out tourist season could be employed cleaning up the debris.
MacLellan was awaiting word from the Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Department about approval to have school buses use the road. Classes for students in the Cape Breton Victoria Regional School Board resume Friday.
Stephen MacDonald, an area manager for the department, said a 170-foot temporary bridge was constructed across the Salmon River and an 80-foot temporary bailey bridge was installed across the Meat Cove River.
Crews have also been repairing areas where culverts were washed away, he said.
Dexter shook hands with road crews before departing Monday, praising their efforts to build replacement
Cape Breton News 