Repairs to washed-out roads could take up to a week, says Transportation Department

Work to repair water-damaged roads across Newfoundland continued Monday after a weekend rainstorm that dumped more than 70 millimetres of rain on some parts of the island.

A weekend of warm temperatures and heavy rain paired with melting snow to cause flooding across the Avalon Peninsula, forcing a slew of road closures.

Crews began work to replace culverts on Route 90, Salmonier Line, near Mount Carmel, on Monday morning.

"It was amazing how quick it went.… 2:59 [p.m. Sunday] was the last record, at 3:30 there was nothing there," said Mount Carmel Mayor Elaine Nash, who captured some of the damage on video.

According to a statement from the provincial Department of Transportation, work to replace the culverts should be completed within a week. Drivers should avoid the area while crews work to fix the section of road.

Nash said other parts of the road were gouged out by the rain but have since been repaired. Traffic flow is also going well, with a detour delaying travel times by only about two minutes, she said.

Nash said the damage is likely because of the buildup of water from the weekend rain and snow, adding to what she says has been an unusually warm fall and winter.

"There's so much water," she said. "The ground is really saturated with water. It has nowhere to go so it has to pile up and just wash out."

In St. John's, crews were working throughout the day to address problem sites, including in the areas of Blackhead and Waterford Bridge roads.

"There was a fair bit of damage done, and we had some road closures that we're starting to reopen those now," said St. John's Mayor Danny Breen. "It's been a busy couple of days for our crews, but we're getting through it and getting things back to normal."

Breen said it's too early to tell when everything will be repaired, as roads and trails in several areas were damaged.

He said this weekend was the latest in a number of severe storms he's seen across the province in recent years.

"People say that climate change is coming — well, climate change is happening," he said.

"Our weather patterns are different," he said. "We've had bigger, heavier rain events.… It's creating more challenges."