locals of the town claimed that it was the worst storm they’ve ever seen, and a community changing event. The town declared a state of emergency on September 24, 2022. On September 26, 2022, RCMP confirmed a 73-year-old Port aux Basques woman was killed after being swept out into the ocean. Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province with a confirmed loss of life directly related to the storm. Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Channel-Port aux Basques had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Transportation Both the Trans-Canada Highway and the Trans Canada Trail have their Newfoundland and Labrador start and end points in Port aux Basques. Railway In the 1880s, the Government of Canada erected a lighthouse at nearby Cape Ray which, despite being in the then-separate British colony of Newfoundland, was considered a navigation hazard for vessels bound for Canadian ports in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. In 1893, it was decided to extend the western terminus of the Newfoundland Railway (then under construction west from the Avalon Peninsula by Robert G. Reid) from St. George's to Port aux Basques harbour. By 1897 the tracks reached Port aux Basques, although the harbour facilities had not been built at that time to handle the steamer Bruce, which had been built in Scotland and had arrived in Newfoundland several months earlier. While the required docks were constructed, the Bruce operated between Little Placentia Sound and North Sydney, Nova Scotia from October, 1897 until June, 1898. Air service Port Aux Basques is served by air via Stephenville International Airport, located north of the town. Regular domestic air service to St. John's International Airport and Deer Lake Regional Airport is provided by PAL Airlines year round. Sunwing Airlines provides service to Toronto Pearson International Airport from May to October. Porter Airlines flies to Halifax Stanfield International Airport, Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on a seasonal basis and Air Saint-Pierre offers summer service to Saint-Pierre Airport which serves Saint Pierre and Miquelon the French overseas collective off Newfoundland's south coast. Ferries On June 30, 1898, the first passenger train arrived in Port aux Basques, and Bruce departed for North Sydney shortly afterward. Over the years,