Residents on the southeast coast of Labrador have been left out of a provincial disaster relief program.
Last month’s storm surge destroyed the stage at Spotted Island, used by commercial fish harvesters and area residents who own cabins and summer homes on the island.
Provincial disaster relief funding is available for those who saw damage from the storm surge, but it’s limited to an area from the southern Avalon to Gander Bay.
Shawn Howell says the damage caused at Spotted Island was so extreme that parts of the stage washed up on the beach in Domino, near Black Tickle.
(Submitted photo)
He says he’s tried the Coast Guard, DFO and the provincial government and can’t get any satisfaction in getting help to clean up the site. He says his biggest concern is the gas and fuel that was stored at the stage, all of which is now gone.
“We have raised a bit of money to bring up half a dozen people for a week to go up and do the cleanup ourselves,” says Howell. “It’s unfortunate we’ve got to do that but we don’t have the equipment to tackle such work.”
(Submitted photo)
The provincial government says it’s since received more information from other areas of the province affected by last month’s storm surge, and they are reviewing the information.
The province says those affected by the January 4th – 6th, 2025 storm surge, but who are outside of the designated area, are asked to contact the NL-DFAP office directly (1-888-395-5611 or via email: NL-DFAP@gov.nl.ca), to discuss their case individually.
