The Heavy gale and snow storm which struck this
area last Wednesday evening and continued through Thursday completely tied up
transportation in the Digby District. Streets and sidewalks were all blocked
with drifts some eight to ten feet high.
Some thirty persons from rural districts around
Digby were forced to spend the night at the Digby Rural High School after
school buses found it impossible to return them to their homes following
Adult Education classes at the school. Radio appeals were issued to neighbors
asking them to care for the stock of people marooned in Digby.
Members of the Digby Ravens hockey team and a number
of supporters from Digby were marooned at Annapolis on their return trip from
Bridgetown Wednesday night. Some fifteen cars from Digby were stranded about
a mile from Annapolis in heavy drifts. A number of those who could not get
any further by car caught the early morning freight at Annapolis, arriving in
Digby shortly after seven o'clock. This train usually makes Digby shortly
before five a.m.
Three freight cars went off the tracks on the spur
line running to the Digby pier shortly after noon, tying up rail traffic to
the wharf. Heavy drifts blocked the rail line to the wharf but efforts of the
train crew had succeeded in getting the yard engine through to the wharf
before the derailment tied things up for several hours.
Five taxis spent the night on the road near Smith's
cove when they were caught by the storm. One truck driver in town, after
helping car owners to get their cars off the street was forced to abandon his
truck in a heavy drift. He stayed in his truck until the motor quit, then
spent the remainder of the night in the town hall, along with seven or eight
others seeking shelter from the storm.
The peninsula and islands of
| Digby Neck took the full brunt of the storm. Sixty mile an hour gales,
coupled with the mountainous waves of an extremely high tide, combined to
wreak heavy damage at East Ferry, Tiverton and Freeport.
At East Ferry the fish plants of Harrison Theriault,
Sydney Small and E.J. Theriault and Sons were carried away. Fish houses
belonging to McClafferty and Theriault and Harley Theriault were also
destroyed as was the gas service outlet of Arthur Harris. Preliminary
estimates of damage to buildings in East Ferry was $50,000.
Also destroyed at East Ferry was some $4000.00 worth
of fishing gear which was swept out to sea from the government pier. Three
fishing boats moored at East Ferry were also totally destroyed. These
belonged to Dalton Sollows, Bernard Young and Ralph Titus.
At nearby Tiverton, across Petite Passage from East
Ferry, the fish processing plant of Lauriston B. Small was completely
destroyed as were several other shore establishments. At Freeport the ferry
slipways were badly damaged and beaten about by the storm. The fish storage
building of the E.C. Bowers Company was washed away and two craft went adrift
to crash on the rocky coast.
At the full tide in Digby, which came around
midnight Wednesday night, mountainous waves lashed the waterfront of the
town. Along the boulevard section of Water Street sand laden sea water was
carried right across the roads and houses on the land side were swept by the
heavy spray. Seaweed was carried by the sea across the road and left on the
sidewalk on the west side.
Abutments protecting properties on the waterfront
were badly damaged and the piling under several buildings on the waterfront
of the business district were severely damaged. One building suffered so
severely fears were expressed it might collapse and as tide and weather
conditions permitted workmen were busy shoring up supports.
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