Storm cleanup a familiar cycle for Acadian Peninsula

Luc Robichaud takes comfort in knowingthe storm damage to Club pleinair in Caraquet "was worse during the winter," and the cleanup after the May 18 thunderstorm was minor compared to January's devastating ice storm.

Still, "a couple doors broke," and a team of volunteers had to cut brush so the club's scheduled mountain bike races could go ahead as planned, Robichaud said.

"We had to clean the trails a couple weeks ago because of the winter storm," saidRobichaud, the club's general manager. "We don't use the same trails in winter as in summer, so all the trails for running and mountain biking were a mess."

During the thunderstorm, the wind reached almost 200 kilometres an hour,but certain areas of the peninsula, like the Club pleinair, were spared the devastating damage others experienced.

The Rossy store across from Tim Hortons in Caraquetwas one of the hardest-hit businesses on the peninsula, sustaining a destroyed roof and water damage inside.

The owner was insured, but the store will have to be reconstructed inside and much of the stock was wasted.

Bridge open for good

The bridge between Shippagan and Lamque, which allows access to Miscou Island, has reopened after days of being open only to foot traffic, save for a couple of hours when residents were able to drive across.

Several hydro poles snapped in the strong winds, and power lines were down across the bridge for much of Friday.

Lamque residents were also without power until the weekend.

NB Power crews worked overnight Friday and reconnected 3,500 customers early Saturday morning. The connection was 14 hours earlier than the utility had predicted.

Contractors remained until Tuesday evening to clean the bridge of old poles and make sure the public would be safe. Traffic continues to be monitored.

The final customers without power because of the storm were reconnected Saturday afternoon in Grande Anse and Pokeshaw.

After the January ice storm, it was 12 days before some households and businesses in northeastern New Brunswick got their power back.