Water levels on Grand Lake in New Brunswick rose again overnight Wednesday — leaving residents and cottage owners scrambling to protect their properties.
But many properties are already flooded and peoples’ spirits are breaking.
Doug and Donna McLeese’s home on Grand Lake has been flooded for the second time since they bought it.
“It’s kind of terrifying because we had to be evacuated last year by a boat so this year we left on our own,” Doug said.
On Thursday, Doug paid a visit to the home on a canoe and took along Global News reporter Shelley Steeves.
The two slowly paddled up to the home and right through the double-car garage.
“It can’t feel very good having to canoe over to your place,” Steeves remarked during the trip.
“Crummy. I didn’t sign up for this,” said Doug, when asked to describe his experience.
WATCH: Flooding on Cameron Road in Rothesay, N.B.
The McLeeses are currently living in a motor home in a neighbour’s yard with their two cats and dog. They have no heat, however, and are concerned about the weather.
“The wind, if it stays here, I will be fine but if the wind comes up, it’s not just so much the water hitting all your windows — and I have about nine of them across the front of my house — it’s the projectiles they just throw at you,”said Doug.
“I had a telephone pole just miss my house last year by about nine feet.”
WATCH: Communities north of Saint John underwater as flooding continues
Fellow resident Joy Thomas is trying her best to prevent damage to the home her family moved into two years ago.
She was scrambling Thursday to secure a flood barrier the family had installed after last year’s flood.
“We lost a little bit of the wall. My husband and neighbour are sandbagging just to shore it up a bit,” she said.
It’s unclear how many properties are currently flooded because access roads to waterfront properties are currently cut off.
— With files from Shelley Steeves
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