Truck driver stranded by damaged roads touched by the kindness of Newfoundland strangers
CBC
Damaged roads, record rainfall and high winds made the trip for truck drivers delivering goods to Newfoundland a bit longer than intended. But one truck driver from Nova Scotia says the moment was worth savouring, and is thanking residents who kept spirits up and stomachs full.
Kevin Venner was stuck in Newfoundland for about five days after the route to Port aux Basques was cut off by a record rainstorm in the region last week. He was able to travel to Deer Lake before parts of the road collapsed.
"We was told by a dispatcher to head for the boat because it was being diverted up to Argentia. Then we got there and ran up on the back of a lovely big queue, and thought, 'Oh my God, can this get any worse?" Venner told CBC Radio's On The Go on Tuesday.
Despite being met with lines over a kilometre long at the Marine Atlantic ferry terminal and wait times of nearly 12 hours, Venner said the experience was a positive one thanks to staff and residents who made sure everyone was looked after.
"Being [originally] from the U.K., I'm not quite used to that sort of behaviour. It was really sort of humbling," he said.
"I'm thinking 'Blimey, who's this? Are they trying to get in the back of the truck? What's going on?'… They was offering out pizza, and then we had people turning up with Tims coffee and tea, there was goodie bags. I think I ended up with more food in the fridge than when I left home."
Venner said he was thanking people on behalf of all the drivers in Argentia, adding the kindness won't be forgotten.
"I'd heard rumours that back when the 9/11 disaster happened about the people being taken in. You hear a rumour, you don't know if it's true or it could be made up. But having seen it first-hand now, they're a really friendly bunch and whatever they say about you guys on the island is true," he said.
"We was just trying to find a way of saying thank you, because it does mean a lot. And we are very grateful."
Meanwhile, drivers and dairy farm operators bringing milk out of the province are also having to pivot as a result of the storm.
John Moores, general manager of Dairy Farmers of Newfoundland and Labrador, said the storm has changed how milk gets out of the province, and forced one farmer who was cut off from transport to dump thousands of litres of milk set to be delivered to Nova Scotia for processing.
"We've had to pivot and change locations, significantly taxing our resources to how we ship milk off the island," Moores said. "Our transporter has really done a phenomenal job … just ensuring that we had the capacity to move that raw milk from the Bay St. George area to Argentia to send it to Nova Scotia."
Moores said the issue won't hurt milk supply in the province but will likely affect supply on the mainland in the coming days and weeks.
A shipment of milk was also recently flown in by the Canadian Coast Guard into the community of St. Andrew's, which had been isolated by the storm.
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