Homes evacuated in central N.S. as flooding spreads

Posted: Sep 10, 2012 2:35 PM AT

Last Updated: Sep 10, 2012 4:32 PM Two Canadian Red Cross reception centres have been set up as flooding forced the evacuation of dozens of homes in central Nova Scotia on Monday as forecasters warned of more rain to come.

The two locations are at the Bible Hill fire hall at 69 Pictou Road in Truro and another is located at the Immanuel Baptist Church on Young Street in Truro.
However, the reception centres are not serving as shelters at the moment, according to Mona O'Brien, district community supervisor for the Canadian Red Cross in Truro.
Volunteers are doing a needs assessment with incoming families, she said. If they need to help people overnight they will, O'Brien added, as officials figure out plans for the next several hours.
Donna Munro, who lives in North River near Truro, was paddled to safety by a neighbour in a canoe as the area around her home flooded with about 1.5 metres of water.
"When you start seeing sheds float down the road out your living room window, you kind of get the idea that maybe you should be packing up something," she told CBC News on Monday.
"We put everything in the truck and sent the truck up the road to higher ground, but then bigger things like picnic tables and barbecues and things of that nature started floating down the road and we're thinking, 'OK, maybe we should grab the dog and go.'"
Munro said she and her son stepped onto the doorstep and the doorstep started separating from the front of the house.
Her son got to safety and she was rescued a short time later by a neighbour with a canoe.
"The force of the water, when the tide came in, is what I think really elevated everything on top of all the rain we had too. It just all added to it like a snowball effect," she said.
"It was the force and the viciousness of it, I think, that just sped it along that much quicker."

Premier responds

Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter offered his support to those evacuated.
"At this point, our primary concern is for the residents of Truro and their immediate safety," Dexter said in a release.
Emergency Management Office Minister Ross Landry, and Lenore Zann, MLA for Truro-Bible Hill, toured the affected areas and the reception centres Monday afternoon.
"We want to see first-hand, the impact of the flooding, talk to residents, and thank everyone personally for their tremendous work responding to this emergency," Landry said.
As the rain continues and roads and businesses are affected by closures, Landry asked for patience from Nova Scotians.
Roads and bridges will be inspected by engineers from the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal as quickly as possible, he said.
Motorists should continue to use caution and watch for closed roads and water on roads, according to the provincial release.

More rain coming, forecasters warn

Forecasters with the Canadian Hurricane Centre said Monday's rainstorm was not due to tropical storm Leslie — the current storm is blocking Leslie's progression.
Chris Fogarty said the weather would likely get worse overnight as the two systems converge, with Cape Breton getting the highest winds and heaviest rain.
Nelly Schuurmans, who runs the Baker's Chest Tearoom and Bed & Breakfast on Farnham Road, said the flooding had essentially turned her home into an island.
"I'm in my kitchen now and if I look left, I see there is a small river there which is completely flooded, there's a bridge there which has completely disappeared. There's no bridge anymore. It's still there, I hope, under the water," she said Monday morning.
"If I look straight ahead of me there is a field where children are playing soccer usually, but that's a lake now."
The Canadian Red Cross has set up two reception centres for area residents who have been displaced by the storm: at the Bible Hill Village Fire Hall at 69 Pictou Rd. and the Immanuel Baptist Church at 295 Young St.
Robert Levine, Colchester County's Emergency Measures Organization co-ordinator, said residents should try to stay away from the water.
"There are some places, some roads are being washed out and for the next few hours, it may be difficult to get to them if they don't leave now so we're looking at the possibility of asking people to leave," he told CBC News.
"What concerns me the most at this hour I think is that people are trying to go out and see what's happening and they're getting in the way and getting themselves in peril."