After a lot of rain, you can’t go to some places
People who are taking stock of the damage in Channel-Port aux Basques say it’s not nearly as bad as was first thought.
Since Friday, the southwest coast of Newfoundland has been under a rain watch. Heavy rain is expected to start on Saturday, and at one point, up to 150 mm of rain was predicted. Overnight, warnings are still in place for the Burgeo-Ramea area. It’s the end of the same system that just a few days before dumped record amounts of rain on Nova Scotia.
“Well, it has rained quite a bit. I’ve heard that we’ve already had more than 100 millimeters of rain, said Channel-Port aux Basques Mayor Brian Button to CBC News.
“I guess the biggest problem we have in town is that there is construction going on all the time.”
For example, the area around Brook Hill used to be a gravel road, but it has been torn up to make improvements to the infrastructure. He said that they were seeing runoff because of the rain.
“This is terrible for the road, especially for the people who live there. I know it must be frustrating for you, and it’s frustrating for us, too, but it’s not something we can do much about,” Button said.
Tallying damag
René Roy, the editor-in-chief of Wreckhouse News, says that, all things considered, it could have been worse, especially compared to what is going on in Nova Scotia.
Roy said, “We’ve had some moderate sheets of rain, but it hasn’t really lasted more than an hour or so.” “The sky is pretty cloudy and there is a lot of thunder, but I could go for a walk right now if I wanted to.”
Button said that they are getting reports of basement flooding and other similar problems, but he said that they are not getting as much damage as Nova Scotia has.
“But that’s no comfort for the people who may be getting flooded right now, which makes their lives very hard. It seems to have been going on for a long time, and it’s getting very, very frustrating for everyone,” Button said.
Roy said he’s sure there have been times when sump pumps broke and caused people’s basements to flood. Residents’ posts on social media have told him that some roads, like Gulches Lane, are dangerous. He told people not to drive up that road.
“But I think we’ve done really, really well for the most part… Roy said, “I haven’t been as worried about this storm as I was about [post-tropical storm] Fiona.”
Access to rest of provinc
Button said that, right now, three of the four lanes on the four-lane highway are closed. If that closes, they’ll be cut off from the rest of the province, which will have a number of effects on the community, including health care, he said.
“The rain is still falling. So it’s very scary at the moment.”
He also said that the rain is making road problems in the area even worse. A big flood happened about a year and a half ago, and four places along the Trans Canada Highway had to be closed because of it.
“It just seems like we’re not getting work done on time, and that’s something that needs to change,” said Button.
Button said he has talked to Minister of Industry, Energy, and Technology Andrew Parsons, and Button said that Parsons is just as upset as he is.
“Rainstorms are happening more often, and it seems like the days when you got 10 or 20 millimeters of rain are over. “It seems like we’re always up to 50, 100, or more, and that makes it hard to know if our systems can handle it,” Button said.
Caution around washout
Button also said that trail washouts have been reported in places like Osmond Point and McDougall’s.
He wants people who use these trails to be careful and warns that the railbeds are closed in some places, such as from Cheeseman Provincial Park to Port aux Basques.
Button also asked people to post online or call the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure to report washouts.
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