P.E.I. communities hustle to protect citizens and infrastructure alike

• CBC News will have special coverage of the arrival of Hurricane Fiona starting Friday at 8 p.m. AT on CBC Radio One with updates every hour, on the hour, with Cassie Williams in Halifax until 10 p.m. and CBC P.E.I.'s Wayne Thibodeau through the night. We will also have digital updates throughout the weekend. A special extended version of Atlantic Tonight on Saturday at 7p.m. and Sunday at 6 p.m. will include complete coverage of Hurricane Fiona and the aftermath from around the region.

As Hurricane Fiona bears down on Atlantic Canada, P.E.I. communities are taking steps to protect their citizens and infrastructure — and the mayor of Charlottetown says he is "praying that we get through this like we did other hurricanes."

Mayor Philip Brown, speaking to Mitch Cormier of CBC's Island Morning, said staff have learned much from past tropical storm systems.

"We're in the same position this time to take care of the citizens of Charlottetown and make sure the infrastructure is secure."

In response to questions about what actions might be taken to safeguard the city's homeless population after the storm passes, Brown said that is only part of what is concerning officials right now.

"We have a population of almost 40,000 people that we have to be looking out for," he said. "We have to look at everything that protects all citizens and the homeless situation will be part of that plan."

Provincial officials said earlier this week that people who have been living in about five encampments around Charlottetown will be offered shelter at the Jack Blanchard Family Centre on Pond Street during the storm — but that respite will end on Sunday, at this point.

"Those plans will evolve as this situation rolls through," Brown told Cormier.

"We're not going to let them leave the shelter if there's ground that's soaked with water and not available to set up a tent. We will assess the situation as we go along."

Asked about remaining infrastructure worries as Fiona approaches, Brown said he is thinking about what might happen with the excavation work as an old wooden culvert on Beach Grove Road is being replaced — "That's a concern" — and the St. Peters Road roundabout project.

With respect to the exposed waterfront at Victoria Park, he said: "The floating dock is still in the water. We're looking at the possibility of getting it out sometime today."

City residents should be signing up for notifications from the Charlottetown Alerts system, Brown said.

And he asked that while people should not be contacting the city at the height of the storm for minor issues, "If you're in danger or anyone in your home is in danger, call, make that call."

Summerside prepared, says mayor

As for P.E.I.'s second city, "the main concern is to make sure that there are no injuries and we're there to support the people if we get certain calls," Summerside Mayor Basil Stewart told CBC News.

"If there are people caught in situations with no housing because of it, we have got arrangements made for that."

Stewart said the city has a lot of construction projects underway, and he expects contractors will be on top of efforts to secure materials and prevent damage.

"We know that sometimes things can fall out of the sky you can't see coming, but we're prepared," he added.

As for storm surge concerns, Stewart referred to past storms that Summerside has weathered.

"A couple of times we had water up over the wharf and some problems created, but we have staff in place to deal with that if it happens, and we'll just have to wait and see how it unfolds."

Citizens, boats and harbours

Elsewhere on Prince Edward Island, other communities are also gearing up their emergency planning.

At Abegweit First Nation, Emergency Management Office manager Gordo Bernard says his team has been working since Monday to secure its tuna fishing boats in Morell and Red Head Harbour. Work at a construction site in Scotchfort has also been put on hold.

Bernard told CBC News that elders who don't want to leave their homes during the height of the storm can ask to have someone from the health team come to them.

"Depending on the severity of the storm, they will go around and do checks on the elders, anywhere from half an hour to an hour intervals all day and night, and make sure that they have anything and everything they need," he said.

"We also operate a warming station in the community, so they're more than welcome. We always invite them out to the warming stations because we have backup generators for a few of our buildings in the community."

Sheila Eastman, manager at the North Lake Harbour Authority, expects nearly all of the boats to be out of the North Lake harbour before the storm begins.

"It's going to be a long, long blow and … the winds are going to be quite high. So it's going to be very interesting come Sunday morning," she said.

Around the Island, other harbour authorities are also encouraging boat owners to get the vessels out of the water, although some may choose to ride out the storm with extra ropes attached to their moorings.

Reception Centres

On Friday afternoon, the province released a list of reception centres that may open if there is an extended power outage. As of 2 p.m. Friday, no centres were open as no power outages had yet occurred. The province's website says it is important to contact your municipality to find out if a centre is open and to confirm hours of operation.