Dozens of people had to be evacuated from almost 30 homes late Thursday because of flash flooding in riverfront areas around Sussex, N.B., in the wake of torrential rains and strong winds.
The Canadian Red Cross said Friday it has arranged emergency lodging for about 38 people from 27 houses or apartments. Several roads were closed because of deep, standing water.
The town’s Emergency Operations group issued an advisory late Thursday, saying water levels had exceeded the flood stage and that residents in affected areas should evacuate.
“There are areas of the town (that) have been severely impacted by localized flooding,” read a notification on the Town of Sussex’s website. “Motorists are urged to exercise extreme caution with water over road sections.”
An emergency shelter had been set up at the Saunders Irving Chapel at Kingswood University.
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The town says on its website that the Trout Creek crested at 19.75 metres overnight and water levels were “trending downward” as of 4 a.m.
The storm system knocked out power in the province as well as in Nova Scotia. NB Power said about 5,300 customers were affected by outages, with 4,500 of those in the Kennebecasis Valley – Fundy area.
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Nova Scotia Power said about 1,300 customers were without electricity in the wake of winds that gusted to over 100 km/h.
“Overnight winds exceeded 80 km/h in most areas of the province and reached 108 km/h near the Halifax airport,” Sean Borden of NS Power said in a statement. “Most power outages were caused by the high wind gusts blowing trees and tree branches onto power lines and damaging equipment.”
The winds also ripped part of the roof off an apartment building in Moncton, N.B., where eight people were forced from four apartments in the 12-unit building. No one was injured.
This is just the latest flooding to affect the small New Brunswick community following less serious localized flooding last weekend along the Kennebecasis and Canaan rivers.
The Red Cross said personnel from Saint John were heading to Sussex on Friday to “meet with evacuees who may require additional help depending on the extent of damage.”
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