Disaster relief volunteers from across Canada are helping Nova Scotia recover from Fiona

Even as Nova Scotia was being lashed by post-tropical storm Fiona's high winds and heavy rain, volunteers from disaster relief organization Team Rubicon were making their way into the province to assist in recovery efforts. 

The non-governmental organization is made up of military veterans, first responders and civilians who come together to help after disasters.

Team members joined countless other people who have been working to clear debris and restore power in the wake of the storm that hit Atlantic Canada on Sept. 24.

Gary Pardy,  a deputy fire chief from Petawawa, Ont., is part of the organization and spoke to Erin McInnis of CBC Radio's Information Morning in Halifax about his experiences in the province so far.

The discussion has been edited for length and clarity.

Can tell me more about Team Rubicon and what it is and what you do?

Team Rubicon kind of came out of the Haiti earthquakes back in 2010.

We're a veteran-led disaster response organization and we help communities prepare, respond and recover from disasters. We support by hazard mitigation, site surveys, debris management, some home repair at no cost to the residents.

Can you give me a sense of how many people are here in Nova Scotia with Rubicon and the variety of backgrounds those people come from?

The team members vary. We have people flying in and out and we have different waves of people. But I believe at one point we had around 40 people in PEI and in Nova Scotia here in Sydney and Halifax.

[We have] retired military veterans, we have firefighters, we have paramedics, we have police officers, we have civilians and we have a very good set of skills everybody brings to the table here.

But the one thing that remains the same with all of us is that commitment to help people. That's kind of the glue that binds us all together. 

What has the cleanup been like so far? Probably a lot of trees?

We were asked by Nova Scotia Emergency Management Office to help clear critical supply routes. We've done a lot of that working with local utilities and other response groups — the military as well — to get the roads open so people can get back and forth to where they need to go. To  get the power back on some of these places.

We supported disaster mapping. We've supported critical infrastructure. And we're actually helping the residents right now clear their driveways, get rid of any hazards in their yards and get the debris to the curb for them.

Is this a bigger job than you imagined? How does it compare with what you thought you were coming into when you signed on?

I came in at ground zero.  

There was about a dozen of us [who] drove in from Ontario during the storm. We got into Halifax at around 4 a.m.

We drove through the height of the storm. So that gave us a pretty decent sense of what was happening here. A lot of debris, a lot of very heavy winds, strong rain.

The next morning we had boots on the ground right away. 

What do you make of the extent of the damage from this storm? This is the biggest we've ever seen.

The critical infrastructure and the routes were certainly something that needed to be dealt with right away.

There is some damage, a lot of roofs and certainly some of the infrastructure has been damaged. But everybody has been working together as a pretty good cohesive team.

The people here are wonderful. They've opened their hearts and their homes to us. Most of my relatives are from Newfoundland, so I've been down East on a few occasions and the people from down East are just so warm-hearted. The people in need just can't thank you enough. I think I heard one of our people say "soul food." 

Can you give me some anecdotes about places you've been or projects you've had to tackle so far?

Just yesterday we got back from a house that had some major driveway issues getting in and out of their home. The couple that lived in the home had some medical problems and certainly couldn't deal with what they had to deal with.

We spent the whole day there clearing out their driveway, getting the debris to the side of the road and getting rid of any hazards that would be out in their backyard for them. 

They just couldn't thank us enough for that. It was, all in all, just such a good day for us to work with people like that. 

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