Normally, on a Monday, the Robert Lenihan Baseball Field in Bedford, N.S, would be busy with children who would be running around the bases. But after a rainstorm that created significant flash flooding, the fields didn’t have running children. They have running water.
Heavy rain, which began Friday, dumped between 200 and 250 millimetres along Nova Scotia’s South Shore, across the Halifax area and into central and western parts of the province, prompting massive floods in some areas.
Walking in to see the damage for the first time, Ken Lenihan was shocked to see the damage. Inside the clubhouse, which belongs to the Bedford Minor Baseball Association, it’s difficult to see the floor.
Everything that once stood vertically or on the walls lay on a mud-covered floor. Vending machines, chairs, a clock and even a lifesaving AED device are scattered across the room.
Lenihan was nearly speechless as he walked through the entrance to the clubhouse, speaking with Global News on Monday.
“I was not expecting this type of damage for sure,” he said after seeing the damage for the first time.
“It looks like the water tipped everything over in all directions like waves.”
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The baseball club relies heavily on player registration fees in order to cover the cost of maintenance and upkeep.
Due to the area being in a flood plain, they were told by their insurance company that having flood insurance would have cost the group a $50,000 deductible, which the organization couldn’t afford.
They’re trying to salvage what they can, which is a similar testament just next door at the Bedford Minor football club. Thousands of dollars in football helmets and gear are in the process of being salvaged from the flood.
“I took a call from Bud Bremmer, who started this program 54 years ago, who the field is named after. He had told me the water had gone up to the shed, which is quite a bit,” the president of the Bedford Minor Football organization, John Strowbridge, recalled.
“By that point, there was nowhere I could go, nothing I could do.”
Strowbridge described it as more than just football for some of the players, who work as a family both on and off the field. Volunteers helped the organization on Monday as the group tried to salvage what they could from one of their two sheds.
While standing water can still be seen on both the basketball and football fields, the two are hoping that things will clear off so they can start and resume their seasons respectively.
The total damage between the two is estimated to be around $50,000 to $100,000.
The port city typically receives about 90 to 100 millimetres of rain during an average July.
Environment Canada says some parts of Nova Scotia may have received more than 300 mm of rain in 24 hours, based on radar estimates and unofficial observations.
In response to the severe flooding, a province-wide state of emergency was declared on Saturday and will remain in effect until Aug. 5.
— with files from Alex Cooke and Mitchell Bailey
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