Flooding prompts state of emergency, road closures across eastern N.S.
CBC
Nova Scotia's Emergency Management Office has declared a state of emergency for Victoria County in Cape Breton after heavy rainfall washed out roads.
Many roads are flooded and impassable in Nova Scotia's northeastern counties and across Cape Breton Island.
The Emergency Management Office is asking people in Inverness and Victoria counties to stay off the roads.
Lyle Donovan, EMO co-ordinator in Victoria County, said more than a dozen roads are washed out and a man was injured when his car got stuck on one of the damaged roads.
"People were travelling around, everybody was curious, wanting to see the damage out there. But as we discovered that roads were being undermined and washouts were happening — and they happened, actually, as somebody was driving over them last night and his truck went into a washout area," he said.
Greg Weir from Victoria County Water Utility said Neils Harbour is under a boil water advisory.
People in Ingonish are reporting they are essentially cut off because the only roads leading into and out of the community are impassable. The flooding means some residents won't be able to reach hospital in the case of an emergency.
According to preliminary rainfall totals gathered by Environment Canada at 8 p.m. Tuesday, some areas of Cape Breton were hit with more than 100 millimetres. Ingonish Beach recorded 211 millimetres.
Sydney received 150 millimetres, which is short of the 225 millimetres recorded during the Thanksgiving Day flood in October 2016. That rain event flooded Sydney's Ashby neighbourhood and wiped out about 20 homes.
Collegeville reported 102 millimetres as of 8 p.m. Tuesday, and Port Hawkesbury received 101 millimetres.
Maximum wind gusts hit 140 km/hr on the Skyline Trail and 134 km/hr in St. Joseph du Moine.
Parks Canada has closed the section of the Cabot Trail from Neils Harbour to Ingonish in Cape Breton Highlands National Park because of flooding. Officials have said they would assess the damage at daybreak.
Inverness CAO Keith MacDonald said he's received reports of some basements flooded in the Margaree area but hasn't heard of any significant damage to homes. He also said the seven wastewater treatment plants throughout county are all performing well Wesdnesday morning.
In Antigonish, public works staff are assessing damage to Route 245 and flooding at the MacDonald Trailer Park off Maclellan Street. Thirty-three people escaped by boat when the park flooded on Tuesday.
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