Hurricane season brings high winds. Here's why northern Cape Breton is always ready

While most Nova Scotians brace for high windsonly during hurricane season, those living in northern Cape Breton,wherehurricane-force winds are a monthly event, learned long ago to roll with the punches.

"Halifax gets it once a year and they think it's the end of the world. We're kind of used to it down here," says Leonard Leblanc, who has been aresident of Chticampfor more than 60 years.

Last weekend, post-tropical storm Leebrought winds in excess of 100 kilometres an hour to some areas of the province, but in Chticamp, where residents are used to Les Sutes windsthat often exceed200 kilometres an hour, they likely didn't blink.

Residents are used to keeping a keen eye on the weather forecast, and making sure to nail everything they can down outside before its too late.

And for many years now, new homes in the area have been built with thesewinds in mind.

Northern Cape Breton had 32 Les Sutes events last year, says meteorologist Bob Robichaudwith Environment and Climate Change Canada.

"The areas that get the Les Sutes winds are well fortified. You would need an extreme type of Les Sutes winds to result in impacts there because the infrastructure is just so hardened by the frequency of these winds," he said.

But if you want to build a home that lasts, said Joey Poirier, the owner of a construction company in Chticamp, the only answer is concrete.

"It's never going anywhere, never going away, it will last forever," Poirier said.

Information Morning Cape Breton's David Burke visited Chticamp to find out what the rest of the province can learn from leaning into the wind.

Listen to his full report below:

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