Findings from Initial Interviews

The initial set of interviews took place soon after the winter storms, in December 2010 and January 2011. The elaboration of the scheme of interview was collectively executed with Coastal Community Challenges-Community-University Research Alliance (CCC-CURA) partners (researchers, municipalities, citizens, nongovernmental organizations or NGOs, etc.) and pretested in the Acadian Peninsula, with the participation of the Coastal Zones Research Institute Inc. (CZRI) and the Universite de Moncton, Shippagan Campus (New Brunswick) . Residents of rural coastal communities were interviewed in their native tongue (French or English). Based on semi-directed interviews held both singly and in couples, data analysis revealed several findings from the initial interviews that are relayed in this chapter. In particular, those affected by the 2010 winter storms in the Atlantic provinces (Quebec, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island) of Canada reported experiences and impacts that were mainly associated with storm surge and flooding as well as high waves and coastal erosion. The impacts affected personal property as well as businesses and public infrastructure, including roads, graveyards, and bridges, influencing evacuation points and the emergency response. Even though most people lived at the coast most of their lives and this was not the only major storm that they had experienced, their responses mainly included emotional reactions (of fear, stress or worry, panic, powerlessness), especially for those who were cut off from the mainland. The elderlies were particularly fearful of having to leave their homes and/or communities and this is indicative of the importance of demographics affecting experiences and responses. Various stressors were expressed by people and panic set in when people realized the extreme damages. In some cases, participants expressed powerlessness. There was a tendency to forget past storms, potentially as a psychological coping mechanism.