WEST POINT, P.E.I. — Hurricane Dorian has altered the closing date for some of Prince Edward Island’s provincial parks.
Dorian’s heavy rain, strong winds and powerful storm surge inflicted a beating on several of its properties, Parks P.E.I. reports.
Jacques Cartier Park in Kildare, near Alberton, sustained considerable damage that has prompted Parks P.E.I. to immediately close the facility for the season.
“There’s a number of things to look at there, for sure,” said Shane Arbing Manager of provincial parks.
"It looks quite messy right now: a lot of trees down, a lot of debris all throughout the campground, but once we get that all tidied up we’ll have a good look and we should be okay.”
Arbing said the storm surge moved rocks around from a retaining wall parks installed at Jacques Cartier a few years ago, and the wave action caused some erosion behind the big rocks.
In West Point, the rain and the waves flooded the Cedar Dunes campground and resulted in an immediate seasonal closure.
Arbing is hoping there is no lasting impact at Cedar Dunes.
“What people see right now at Cedar, that’s typically what we see most springs at Cedar. That’s not unusual for that sight. It is unusual for this time of year, but that will dry out and we will see where we go from there.
“It’s a lot of water."
Arbing said the two western parks bore the brunt of the storm but several other parks lost trees.
Provincial Parks also closed Panmure Island park due to damaged trees and loss of electrical power.
All three parks were initially slated to remain open until Sept. 15.
Arbing said the staff will remain on to help with the cleanup at the affected parks and to assist with the eventual season closing of other facilities.
“There’s work to do.”
Parks personnel are strongly advising the general public not to enter closed facilities as it will take considerable time for staff to address all safety issues the weather caused.
Repair work is underway at Cabot Beach Provincial Park in hopes of having the campground reopened Sept. 12. The final day of the season there is Sept. 22. There was significant tree damage reported throughout the park and its day use area is now closed to vehicular traffic for the remainder of the season.
Brudenell Provincial Park was reopening September 10. The season there runs until Oct 14. Northumberland Provincial Park is expected to reopen September 12 and will close for the season on Sept. 26.
Campgrounds that remained open following the storm were Red Point and Linkletter. Their season closing dates are Sept. 22 and Sept. 29 respectively.
Provincial day use parks in Argyle shore, Basin Head, Bloomfield and Chelton Beach remain open.
Storm clean-up of the Confederation Trail is underway, but Provincial Parks reports the linear park has incurred major damage. When the entire trail will be available to foot traffic and cyclists again is undetermined.
“There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of trees down across the province,” Arbing stressed. “(The clean-up) is going to be a huge job.”
P.E.I. National Park
Prince Edward Island National Park released an updated report on Tuesday on the condition of its properties following Dorian’s visit
- The trails at Green Gables Heritage Place will remain closed until a safety assessment has been completed. Green Gables Heritage Place is open
- Greenwich Interpretation Centre and beach complex are open.
- Stanhope Campground is closed for the season, as per regular scheduled operations.
- All trails administered by Parks Canada in P.E.I., including those throughout P.E.I. National Park and Skmaqn-Port-la-Joye-Fort Amherst National Historic Site, will remain closed until safety assessments have been completed. Robinsons Island Road in Brackley remains closed until further notice.
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