Atlantic Canada recovers from flooding, outages

Some Atlantic Canadians are still dealing with the aftermath of a deluge that led to severe flooding, power outages and evacuations in some parts of the region.

Much of the East Coast was doused in heavy rains on Saturday amid unseasonably warm temperatures that melted a significant amount of snow in many parts of the region.

More than 100 people in the small southern New Brunswick community of Musquash were evacuated from their homes due to concerns about the water level at the nearby East Branch dam, according to a spokesperson for the province’s Emergency Measures Organization.

Robert Duguay said provincial officials have inspected the dam and did not find signs of damage, and were working to determine when residents can return to their homes, but no decision had been made as of Sunday afternoon.

Some areas of New Brunswick were deluged by more than 10 centimetres of rain since Saturday, causing localized flooding and water levels at the dam to rise to near capacity.

Philip Melanson, deputy chief of the Musquash Fire and Rescue Department, said firefighters and RCMP officers began knocking on doors in the community at around 9 p.m. on Saturday, telling people to pack enough belongings for two days.

Allie Murchison, disaster management co-ordinator with the Canadian Red Cross, said 87 of the residents were put up in a hotel in Saint John and the rest stayed with family and friends for the night.

Town officials in Sussex advised residents on a few streets to evacuate their homes on Saturday.

But Murchison said none of them showed up at a reception centre the Red Cross set up, so volunteers shut it down.

The Red Cross is on standby in Moncton and Saint John, she said.

New Brunswick Power reported that roughly 1,300 people were affected by outages in the province around mid-afternoon on Sunday, down from nearly 10,000 the day before.

Duguay said the utility hopes to restore power for the remaining customers without power later in the day.

The New Brunswick government issued a press release on Sunday afternoon asking residents who live near water to keep an eye out for ice movement, and warned drivers that while the downpour may have passed, the roads are still not safe in many areas.