No more 'hearts and prayers': Halls Harbour wants action after washout

Residents of Halls Harbour in Kings County, N.S., are eager to get their community reconnected after flash floods destroyed a key bridge and walkway a little more than a week ago.

They're looking for more than a replacement bridge to connect the two sides of the harbour — they're looking for more infrastructure that will stand up to severe weather events.

"People are rallying. We're talking to our elected representatives and we're going to hold their feet to the fire on this one because we've been telling them for years that there was a problem here. This washed out seven years ago," Bernard Miles, a member of the Halls Harbour Community Development Association, told CBC News on Thursday.

Miles, one of the driving forces behind a plan for a new and improved bridge and additional infrastructure, said the association hired a consulting and engineering company a few years ago to come up with solutions.

"It makes me very upset that people who had the ability to do something about this did nothing despite repeated warnings, despite repeated pleas from our group to please do something about this before it's too late," Miles said. 

"The cost to have done something before we had this washout is a fraction of what it will cost now to replace this infrastructure. It's a waste of resources, it's a waste."

Miles said the association would like to see the level of the roadway and a seawall that is already in place raised to withstand future storms.

"Everybody in the community had their chance to give input and the project has developed from that and we are here today, and you can see the devastation in the background that was preventable," Miles said.

Halls Harbour is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Kings County, but the number of people heading there over the last week has been far below normal.

With the bridge and walkway washed out, shops on one side of the harbour have been disconnected from a restaurant and lobster pound on the other side.

While those businesses are still open, they're not seeing the usual volume of visitors.

"It's not just Parker's General Store, there are many small businesses in the area that are missing out," Madonna Spinazola, the manager of Parker's, told CBC News. "I do know that there are some Airbnbs have had people cancel because they don't want to come as they don't know what to expect."

The Halls Harbour Lobster Pound is also feeling the effects since the washout. 

Some workers have already seen a reduction in the number of their shifts. The movement of lobsters in and out of the pound has been difficult because they can no longer make a straight run out of the plant and across the bridge. Smaller trucks are moving the lobsters around a much longer detour.

"We're seeing about a 30 per cent slowdown in business right now at least up until we can get the word out that we are still open and operating," said Reid Cameron, the general manager of the pound.

"On the export side of things, we're struggling to get our trucks in and out of the parking lot and out the main entrance."

The washout has also raised safety concerns. The response time of the local fire department will be considerably longer if a fire breaks out on the opposite side of the harbour.

"We will have a longer time to answer a call, which could be up to 30 minutes in some cases. And that means if there's a fire, we've got troubles. We could not be able to save it in that length of time," Gerald Dickie, a member of the Halls Harbour Volunteer Fire Department, told CBC News.

Politicians from all three levels of government have visited the community and promised to do what they can to improve the situation.

"I'm not confident it will happen as quickly as we'd like to see it happen. But I think it could happen if the powers that be just say let's get this fixed and do it," said Dick Killam, a councillor with the Municipality of Kings.

Miles said the association estimates it would take $24 million to make the improvements they want. He said it would be a one-time investment that would stand up over time, which is why they're looking for the government to greenlight the project.

"I don't want to hear about hearts and prayers and we're with the people of Halls Harbour. I want your chequebook. I want you to come out here and actually do something," he said.

Miles said he received an email from Nova Scotia's Department of Public Works asking to see the association's engineering reports.

"We are very happy to be partnering with public works in achieving a sustainable, mutually agreeable and long-term solution to the issues at Halls Harbour," Miles said in an email to CBC News on Friday.