Posted on December 11, 2018
Storm surge attributed to last week’s wild winds and heavy rain breached the Indian Beach recreation area, causing extensive damage to the recently revitalized recreation area.
“It was hit very hard. It was basically underwater for an hour or so,” said Bill Weatherbee, co-chair of the Indian Beach Society. “The building survived but the vegetation, the trees and the plants we won’t know what happened there until summer.”
Park benches remained overturned, a deck in the accessible playground area was shifted and twisted and pools of water and debris were scattered around the parking lot and beach areas.At one point during Thursday’s storm the park was being hit continuously by large waves and was filled with seawater. Though most of the water had receded by Monday morning, the baseball field remained flooded and filled with ducks and seabirds.
The damage comes after the revitalization of the beach this past summer that included a new septic system, upgrades to the drainage system and storage building, asphalt paving, parking lot upgrades, signage and landscaping.
An accessible gazebo and playground equipment were also part of the renovations, as were a special mat and equipment that allows those with disabilities to access the beach and shoreline.
“Everything is just a mess down there. Rocks are thrown up out of the water onto the parking lot, there is seaweed everywhere. There’s damage but it is going to be all fixed.”
Weatherbee said the scene at the beach during the storm was something that lifetime residents of the area had never witnessed before.
High winds move some pieces of infrastructure at the Indian Beach park and playground late last week, including this decking located near the accessible playground.
“We have had damage down the beach over the years due to ice but nothing that was down there the other day. It was unbelievable. It was something you’d see in another state and not our own province. You had to walk around there to appreciate it.”
Heartbreaking was how District 2 Coun. Earlene MacMullin described the damage to the beach. Her expectations are also that it will be repaired.
“The swing sets are buried and the landscaping, and a lot of it is completely gone,” she said. “There will be a lot of discussion with our architect to see what we should do.”
MacMullin said an insurance adjuster toured the beach with a Cape Breton Regional Municipality official on Monday to assess the damage. They are not expected to hear back from the adjuster until the new year but expectations are that the beach will be repaired.
“Right now, the beach is closed up and will remain closed for the season and any repair work. Right now, we are not going to even look at it until the spring because of the way the weather is and the time of year,” she said. “I don’t know how much work you could do and expect it to stay.”
The damage at Indian Beach was on everyone’s mind during the Cape Breton regional Municipality’s public budget consultations in North Sydney on Saturday, according to a press release from Mayor Cecil Clarke’s office. The full damage is currently being assessed and a cleanup of the most urgent issues is being addressed, the release stated.
The CBRM communications office confirmed that an insurance company toured the beach Monday morning and that cost of repairs and a repair schedule will be released once the insurance company reports back to them.
“We put a lot of work in that and a lot of money and for a storm to come in like that and wipe it out, it would be terrible if you couldn’t replace it,” said Weatherbee.
“But I am very positive it is going to be put back better than it was.”
Source: Cape Breton Post
