By Rebecca Lau Global News
Posted November 24, 2021
Heavy rain flooded parts of the Maritime provinces on Tuesday, with Sydney, N.S. seeing more than 80 millimetres of rain through the day. Ingonish Beach, N.S. also set a new all-time single day record of 234 millimetres of rain.
A large, slow-moving storm brought torrential rain and strong winds to Atlantic Canada, flooding basements and washing out roads in western Cape Breton on Wednesday.
The situation has even blocked access to a hospital on the island.
A state of emergency was declared late Tuesday in Cape Breton’s Victoria County, where schools were closed and residents were warned to stay off the roads.
The storm dumped between 100 mm and 150 mm of rain across large sections of Cape Breton, with some areas along the east coast of Victoria County receiving more than 200 mm of rain. Environment Canada said as of 11 a.m. on Wednesday, 278.4 mm had fallen in Ingonish River, and 263.3 mm had fallen in Ingonish Beach.
“We’ve had pretty well the biggest rain event I think I can ever remember in my lifetime,” said Larry Dauphinee, councillor for Ingonish Beach and the deputy warden for Victoria County.
“A lot of flooding, a lot of washouts on the roads, a lot of basements, flooding. But probably the biggest issue is the roadblocks or conditions on the Cabot Trail, which has taken off access to our hospital in Neils Harbour. And we have just recently with caution, can make the trip into Sydney, but we are still locked on the northern end going towards our hospital.”
Dauphinee said Wednesday morning that the situation is concerning because in the event of an emergency, people would have to drive to Sydney, which is “a two hour drive on a good day.”
“The transportation and the condition of the roads is probably most serious issue at this time,” he said.
He added that while flooding is common in the area, the amount of flooding these past couple of days has been “amazing.” The area is dotted with small landslides and washouts, he added.
“We did have one incident where an employee of a road maintenance crew — actually the road collapsed underneath him and his truck did go into the washout. He was able to get out and he’s doing OK now, but that was probably the most serious injury that we had,” he said.
READ MORE: Residents forced to evacuate Antigonish, N.S. trailer park by boat amid flooding
Jamie Chisholm, the eastern district director for the Department of Public Works, described the region as being in a “crisis mode” overnight.
“We are going to have a lot of damage. It’s going to take several weeks even longer for some of these structures to reestablish,” he said.
“We’ve had crews out all night and all day today, and they’re certainly trying to do what they can. But we have a lot to deal with here.”
Victoria and Inverness counties were hardest hit, where about 30 to 40 roads were flooded or washed out.
“We lost three or four bridges in the area,” Chisholm added.
Dauphinee said the good news as of Wednesday, is that the waters have receded “quite fast in most locations,” however the process now turns to surveying the damage and taking on repairs.
“Cleanup has started in a lot of the homes. The crucial thing for us right now is to do the the provincial department of highways are doing their assessment of the bridges and highways. We’re waiting for the reports on that and hopefully get everything open,” he said.
He added that some roads, such as the one going north of Ingonish and communities north of that roadway, where disruptions are likely to last for a couple of days until repairs can be made.
He also said the region is lucky, in that it isn’t in the same situation as British Columbia’s interior, where recent flooding has devastated communities.
“I guess we’re lucky we’re not like B.C., B.C., where everything is in the valley. The water holds for a long time. We’re lucky here. We’re out in the ocean. The high volumes of water once it comes down, off and out into the communities, goes to the ocean, so it does recede quite quick,” he said.
‘Definitely would not attempt to leave my house’
Meanwhile in Sydney, residents are also dealing with flooded neighbourhoods. Authorities have told people to stay off the roads and avoid travelling.
Resident Maurice Cooke spoke to Global News from inside his home, which is surrounded by water, and has no plans to leave for a while.
Water outside his driveway was halfway up the tires of his SUV.
“I feel if we had to, we could (leave) if it was a life and death situation … if like the house was on fire, maybe or something. I would definitely leave the house. But if it can be avoided, I definitely would not attempt to leave my house,” he said.
“There’s debris and trees that are down and the road. They have roads blocked off. So yeah, just I wouldn’t want to be out in this and put myself or anybody else in harm’s way.”
He added his family had emergency supplies to last a couple of days, and thankfully, the house still had power.
State of emergency declared in 2 Nova Scotia counties due to heavy rain, flooding
— With files from The Canadian Press, Amber Fryda
Storm washes away areas of Trans-Canada Highway in southwestern Newfoundland
Port aux Basques cut off in both directions
The town of Channel-Port aux Basques is cut off from the rest of Newfoundland in both directions as heavy rain continues to fall over the area from a heavy storm that started Tuesday.
The province said there are road washouts five kilometres north and two kilometres south south of the community Wednesday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, the province's Department of Transportation reported multiple roads are washed out in the Codroy Valley area, including two parts of the Trans-Canada Highway near Doyles, which connect the region to the rest of the island.
The department reported the following road closures:
- Trans-Canada Highway five kilometres southwest of Doyles intersection, both lanes are washed out.
- Trans-Canada Highway 16 kilometres southwest of Doyles intersection, one lane washed out.
- Trans-Canada Highway 25 kilometres northwest of Port aux Basques.
- Route 406-11, Doyles Station Road, an alternate route is available.
- Route 413-01, St. Andrews Road, an alternative route is available.
- Loch Lomond Road, one lane is closed.
- Upper Ferry Road, one lane is closed.
Environment Canada said Port aux Basques has received 143.4 millimetres of rain as of 11:30 a.m. NT Wednesday.
Roads are also closed in Red Bay in southern Labrador because of washouts. Tracey Road leading to Tracey Hill is closed until further notice, while areas of North Brook Road are damaged but open for the time being.
The town had received 50 millimetres of rain as of 7 a.m. AT, according to officials.
On Wednesday afternoon, Premier Andrew Furey said helicopters are on standby for emergencies, and so far there are no worries about supplies in the community. The province is not considering evacuating any homes yet, but officials and police are asking people to stay off of roadways.
WATCH | Drainage systems are starting to get overwhelmed
Wade Osmond, who lives in Port aux Basques, woke to discover major flooding on his property that's located near a brook which he says is ready to burst from the rainfall flowing steadily from a pond above.
"If that breaks, we're in trouble."
Osmond also found about 2.5 centimetres of water in his basement and said he's worried about the rain that's still to come.
More rain to come
Rodney Barney, a meteorologist with Environment Canada's weather officer in Gander, said the rain intensified early Wednesday morning, as meteorologists expect the system to bring 150 to 200 millimetres of rain to the area in total.
"We're still looking at another 12 to 18 hours of rain," he said.
"It looks like through the morning hours is probably when the heaviest part of the shower activity will be occurring for today, then gradually winding down as we go into the afternoon and evening."
Barney said another 50 to 80 millimetres of rain could fall, with as much as 150 millimetres over high-elevation areas.
Osmond said it's hard to watch, but noted others in the area have it worse.
"At 6 a.m. this morning I was here, sitting and watching the water rise, watching everything that I worked hard for go down the tubes, down the drain," he said.
"But it is what it is and we have to deal with it and take it as it comes."
Winds gusted in excess of 130 km/h in the Wreckhouse area, but diminished slightly Wednesday morning reaching about 90 km/h, Barney said. He said the wind is expected to pick up again later Wednesday morning.
The brunt of the rainfall is confined to the southwest corner of the island, meaning the Port aux Basques area and as far east as La Poile can anticipate the storm to continue to soak the communities.
In a news release, the RCMP said Department of Transportation crews were working in the Codroy Valley areas to assess the damage.
'All I could hear was pavement cracking'
Ryan Moore, who lives in Doyles, was driving along a stretch of roadway Tuesday night when the asphalt beneath his truck gave way.
"I was kind of in shock. [The] airbags and everything went off and I jumped out," he said.
"I looked behind me and there was just a black hole behind me … all I could hear was pavement cracking, it was pitch black so I couldn't really see what was going on."
Moore said he had actually sold that truck earlier in the day. Now it's a total write off.
He said he nearly made it across the culvert when it caved in, his front wheel breaking through and bouncing the truck back onto hard ground on the other side.
"I've been driving that road my entire life and something didn't look right," he said.
Moore is safe. He used the phone from a nearby neighbour's house to call for a ride home. He said a tow truck should be able to remove his now abandoned vehicle from the road early Wednesday morning.
Ferry crossings cancelled
Meanwhile, Marine Atlantic ferry crossings between Port aux Basques and North Sydney, N.S., are cancelled on Wednesday because of the storm, leaving some passengers stranded who are trying to get home.
Jason Caron had been in Newfoundland for the last week, working construction on Walmart stores on the island. With the work completed, he was headed for home, until the ferry cancellations deflated his plan.
Now he's unsure of when he'll get to leave.
"We think maybe Tuesday will be possible, but we're still waiting on a response from Marine Atlantic," he said.
According to Marine Atlantic's website, ferry crossings on Thursday could also be impacted by the storm. The company said the forecast will continue to be monitored and customers will be advised of any schedule changes.
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