Cleanup begins in wake of Hurricane Dorian

Hurricane Dorian has passed, but the hard work is just starting for some. Many are dealing with damage from the storm.

Work is underway in Saint John to pick up the pieces left from the hurricane. As the work continues, Saint John fire Chief Kevin Clifford is asking the public to stay out of parks and away from uprooted trees as it could be a safety risk.

Mayor Don Darling said there are many fallen trees along city roads and in parks and squares. Some of the significant tree loss happened in King's Square.

 The city plans to salvage some of the trees from King's Square and find a special way to use the old wood. Darling said some of the trees were over 200 years old.

"I would love to see those trees loved in a new fashion," he said.

Darling said no part of the city was left untouched by Saturday's storm. 

"It was widespread, really, all over the city," said Darling. "Thankfully, no one was hurt, but it was a very, very busy evening for our emergency measure crews."

There was some flooding on streets because of the rain on Saturday night, but those streets are cleared.

"This was a small taste of what a hurricane can deliver," said Darling. "I can't help but think of folks that live in the Caribbean and other places that see these storms at their most ferocious and severe levels."

Darling said it will take a few weeks to clean up the mess, and possibly even longer for property owners who are dealing with damage.

In Moncton, there are still some flooded streets including English Drive, Elmwood Drive below Lewisville Road, Fairlane Drive and Massey Avenue east of Elmwood Drive.

Many traffic lights are not functioning and those intersections are to be treated as four-way stops. The city of Moncton is working to address the flooding and cleaning up any trees knocked over by the wind.

Wrecked wharf

When Mike Brun looked out his window in Cocagne, N.B., on Saturday night, he saw large chunks of flying wood amid the wind and rain.

When he woke up Sunday morning, he found out it was his wharf, being washed away by the waves.

"I just had a knot in my stomach. It made me sick to my stomach to tell you the truth," said Brun. "It was emotional actually, to lose it... that's my haven."

Brun said there is no question he will rebuild. The wharf had been there since 1976, and the entire community uses it. He said it will cost $2,500 to rebuild.

"But we're here, everybody's fine, everybody's health, you know, nobody got hurt, except for a broken heart," said Brun.

Gerry O'Brien, manager of the Shediac Bay Yacht Club, watched on Saturday night as the wind and waves tossed boats around.

"It was kind of heart-wrenching," said O'Brien. "You're just hoping for the best, that it's going to calm down and get better, but it just kind of intensified as it went by."

He said he hadn't seen a storm like that in a long time.

O'Brien and his staff stayed at the yacht club as long as they could on Saturday night, hoping the weather would improve. At about 9:30 p.m. AT, water started coming onto the road, so they left.

About 60 boats are tangled together because of the storm, and some boats ended up on the yacht club's lawn.

"It's been a rough night," said O'Brien.

He's trying to connect with club members to let them know what's going on. He plans to start the cleanup on Monday.

He said it will take more time to assess the extent of the damage done.