Wendy Owens Abbott has lived in Richmond County her whole life, but she has never seen storm fallout like this.
Stranded at her River Bourgeois home by washed-out roads, the manager of the Bras d’Or Lakes Inn in St. Peter’s was unable to get to work on Saturday — the very day the inn was hosting a wedding.
“Turns out, the crews cannot get to us,” Abbott said.
“It worries me how the roads in this area are so compromised.”
Late Saturday afternoon, a state of local emergency was declared in Inverness, Richmond and Victoria counties due to severe flooding and widespread damage.
A toll-free municipal support line will open on Sunday at 8 a.m. for residents of those counties and the town of Port Hawkesbury to report non-emergency issues. Inverness County officials said the number—902-625-7888—will be available until 8 p.m.
Jeremey Carroll is the co-owner of a vacation rental business in Richmond County called Lakeside Luxury Domes on West Bay Road, about 25 kilometres west of St. Peters. Carroll said he heard when the culvert blew out shortly after 4 a.m. Saturday.
“You could hear the rumble and the pressure of the water,” he said. “We have guests down there … so it was an interesting morning for sure.”
See the flooding from a severe storm in Cape Breton
Across Richmond County, where parts recorded up to 250 millimetres of rain by Saturday afternoon, severe damage to local infrastructure has cut off entire neighbourhoods.
Warden Lois Landry told CBC News that flooding hit areas that had never flooded before, leaving emergency crews working to assess destroyed roadways and prioritize repairs.
“There are definitely roads that are impassable and will remain impassable for a bit until we kind of wrap our heads around priorities and how we’re going to deal with that infrastructure,” Landry said, urging residents to check on neighbours and avoid travel.
In Guysborough County, Raymond Morris and his wife, both 86, were stranded in their Sand Point home after two culverts collapsed.
He said they have been left in a very vulnerable and dangerous position.
“I’ve got a cane, and I’ve got a lifeline here with me, with six stents in my chest…. If I had an emergency right now I’d be up a creek and nobody could get to me unless they come by boat,” Morris said.
His son, Darryl Morris in Halifax, said most people living in Sand Point are seniors.
He said the age and state of the culverts have been a concern for years, and it has been brought to the attention of the MLA and others.
On Saturday, MLA Greg Morrow posted on social media that the Department of Public Works was working with the local volunteer fire department “in the event an urgent situation arises.”
He said “crews will have a temporary solution in place to reopen that section of highway to traffic as soon as possible, but that work can only begin once flood waters recede.”
The physical damage was compounded by broad utility disruptions. There were as many as 40,000 outages Saturday afternoon, but that number dropped to 7,000 in the evening.
CBRM communications said Saturday that the fire department had responded to about 30 calls for flooded basements.
According to CBC meteorologist Ryan Snoddon, periods of rain will continue for the island tonight. As the system slowly moves east, Victoria and Cape Breton counties will likely see the highest rainfall overnight with additional totals of 20 to 30 millimetres, and heavier amounts possible locally.
Lingering showers on Sunday will bring another widespread 2 to 5 millimetres for most areas; however, Victoria and Cape Breton counties look set to see another 5 to 10 millimetres throughout the day.
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