Cleanup continues after devastating flooding in Halifax area

The cleanup continues in the Halifax area after last week's devastating floods, but the full extent of the damage won't become clear until more water recedes.

"Our infrastructure, just like ourselves, is being pounded by cumulative weather events," Mayor Mike Savage told reporters in an update on Wednesday.

"And we need to understand that all of these things are pounding away at our infrastructure, at our roads and our culverts. So even though we get past one event, it might be a hurricane and then we have the fire and then we have the rain. They're all taking an impact on infrastructure."

In a news release on Wednesday, the municipality said drivers should watch out for debris and avoid shoulders of the road. The municipality posted a map that shows blocked roads and other damage.

Lucas Pitts, the acting executive director of public works for the municipality, said private contractors have been brought in to help with the work.

"Our crews are focused on cleaning up and assessing and repairing the damage," said Lucas Pitts, active executive director for public works.

Pitts said 195 work orders of 278 have been closed so far, but that he expects more to come in as more damage is exposed. Some repairs could take weeks.

The Nova Scotia government said it will lift its provincewide state of emergency on Wednesday at 6 p.m. It declared the state of emergency on Saturday.

The municipality launched a flood registry on Tuesday so officials can help those who are stranded at home and struggling to access things they need because of damage and blocked roads.

So far, 45 people have been in touch — but none have requested any immediate assistance. 

Erica Fleck, the municipality's division chief of emergency management, said around 150 people are know to have been displaced.

Team Rubicon, the volunteer organization made up of military veterans, first responders, and civilians who come together to help respond to disasters that helped people sift through the wildfire damage in Nova Scotia, have been asked to come back.

Fleck said the flooding last week was a one-in-1,000-year event because of high water levels.

"We do know that it's weakened some of our infrastructure in the ecosystem already," she said.