A downed tree ripped up the sidewalk in front of Province House in downtown Charlottetown during post-tropical storm Fiona. Photo by Nathan Rochford /Special to The GuardianArticle contentJohn Burgess was trying to do the right thing. But he was in the wrong place, at the wrong time.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentHe, his wife Julia and their two little boys were at the Blue Oak RV Park, eager to be part of the holiday celebrations, when the water came tearing at them. Desperate to save his two sons, John clung to them in a tree, frantic to keep his family alive.Article contentArticle contentArticle contentArticle contentArticle contentPark owner Lorena Guillen remembers what happened next.Article content“My husband was in the water trying to ask them, ‘Please throw me your baby!’ The man was holding tight to his babies, and he just got swept away,” she told a reporter. “A wave came in and they got swept away,” she said. “We could hear the screaming.”Article contentThe bodies of John and Julia were found later, victims of a wall of water that reportedly rose 26 feet in 45 minutes along the Guadalupe River in Texas on July 4. At this writing, the bodies of his blond-haired little boys remain missing. Only a daughter, staying at another campground not affected by the flood, survived.Article contentArticle contentExtreme weatherArticle contentArticle contentIt’s a familiar story this week. The flood killed at least 110 people, including 28 children. Another 170 are missing as of this writing. Many were at a campground near the river.Article contentIt was just the latest tragedy for a part of Texas known as Flash Flood Alley. A flood in 1921 in the region killed over 200. Over four feet of rain from a tropical storm sent another flood through the area in 1978. And 10 campers died when torrential rains sent water roaring through the funnel-shaped region in 1987.Article contentArticle contentSo what gives?Article contentArticle contentP.E.I. knows something about recent natural disasters. Hurricane Fiona will be one of those events that Islanders use to tell time for a generation. “I think it was the year before Fiona” will be a handy clock for anyone trying to remember a moment in the past for the rest of their lives.Article contentNo wonder.Article contentA week after Fiona tore across the Island in September 2022, about 28,000 homes and businesses were still without power.Article contentOne of my fellow instructors at Holland College lived that way for the better part of two weeks as the scramble to get the electric grid back up continued, stymied by the astonishing number of trees flatted by winds estimated to have hit 150 kilometres at the height of the storm.Article contentWe’d been warned.Article contentArticle content‘It’s going to be bad’Article contentArticle contentI remember standing in front of a classroom full of students, many of them international students unfamiliar with Island weather at its worse, the day before the storm hit.
RICK MacLEAN: Texas can learn a lesson from P.E.I. and Fiona
