Record-breaking rainfall drenches N.B

St. Stephen floods after 165 mm of rain falls on Friday

CBC News

Posted: Jul 27, 2013 9:05 AM AT

Last Updated: Jul 27, 2013 4:56 PM AT

At least one car flipped and several others went skidding as heavy rainfall hit New Brunswick Friday, creating dangerous driving conditions and some flooding.

Unofficial totals

St. Stephen 165 mm
Fredericton 120 mm
Brockway 119 mm
Kouchbouguac 97 mm
Saint John 80 mm
Source: Environment Canada

he southwest in particular was hammered with torrential rain through the day. Environment Canada says unofficially, St. Stephen was the hardest hit. An unmanned weather station recorded 165 mm of rain. Fredericton saw 120 mm fall in the city.

"These rainfall amounts actually exceeded the average total amount of rain typically seen in July for many parts of New Brunswick, which is usually between 80 and 90 mm," said CBC Meteorologist Kalin Mitchell.

Highway 3 was covered in water. The rising levels swamped the St. Stephen Irving station. The St. Stephen fire department said it spent the day pumping out flooded basements.

 

"NB Southern Railway has a couple of crews on scene of a section of rail line that has completely washed out," said CBC's Matthew Bingley.

St. Stephen experienced severe flooding in 2010, but many of the businesses hit then were spared by yesterday's storm, Bingley said.

"The local Sobeys had to take all of their refrigerator food and pack them into about seven refrigerator trucks last night," he said.

One hotel, the Winsome Inn, had flooding in the basement and was evacuated overnight. This morning, a beaver was spotted swimming in the yard.

A few hundred homes were without power in the region on Saturday morning. Several N.B. Power crews were working to get them back online.