Minister responsible for EMO defends 'unprecedented' response to Fiona in CBRM

The minister responsible for Nova Scotia's Emergency Management Office is defending the response to post-tropical storm Fiona in Cape Breton, saying EMO is doing all it can to help people.

John Lohr responded Wednesday to criticism from Cape Breton Regional Municipality Mayor Amanda McDougall, who's been calling on the province to do more for weeks.

"We've done an unprecedented response, but I mean it was an unprecedented storm, too, frankly," Lohr told CBC Radio's Information Morning Cape Breton.

"So I mean, we're responding to what's happened."

Mayor says more help is needed

The provincial government has announced a number of financial supports to help with tree removal and the replacement of spoiled food due to power outages. Money has also been sent to the Red Cross and the United Way for their efforts.

But McDougall has said those efforts are not good enough.

More than a month after Fiona hit the region, the mayor said some people are having problems getting into their homes, making repairs and removing fallen trees from their properties. 

She has said her requests to the province for more help removing trees and debris have gone unanswered.

McDougall has also said there's been a lack of assistance from Ottawa, and there doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency from the provincial or federal governments.

"It really should have been an easy process to say, 'OK, what are the needs of residents? Let's make sure we have resources,'" McDougall said. 

Local command centre not possible, says Lohr

McDougall said she would have liked to see EMO set up a local command centre to better co-ordinate response to the storm. She said a centre would allow for more boots on the ground to remove trees and help with cleanup, like what was done in the 2016 Thanksgiving floods. 

"More people were impacted and affected by Fiona than the floods. The floods were very much just one or two communities. Fiona was widespread, it was every nook and cranny of the CBRM," McDougall said.

She said CBRM would have benefited from that kind of organization on the ground. 

"It really hindered the response and that's why we are in the situation we are right now," she said. 

Lohr said a local command centre for CBRM was out of the question.  

"We were not able to go and do something like that for one municipality," he said. "This was such a widespread storm. We were responsible for many municipalities." 

Lohr encouraged Nova Scotians to apply for the Disaster Financial Assistance Program, which was designed to cover certain uninsured losses. The program covers up to $200,000 per household, small business and non-profit.