In the history of more than 40 years, Canada has never encountered such heavy rains and floods that have wreaked havoc on the peaceful and quiet provinces of Nova Scotia and Atlantic. The storm, which began on Friday, dropped the equivalent of three months’ worth of precipitation in some areas in just a period of 24 hours, or simply, more than 25cm (10inches). This has triggered floods in some regions and these heavy rains have become the latest natural calamity to strike Canada.
Table of Contents
According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Atlantic region suffered major devastation on Saturday by the greatest rainfall received by Canada in the last 40 years, but authorities are no longer worried that a compromised dam may burst from this.
Damages Done by the Heavy Rains
These floods have given rise to new problems previously unknown by the citizens of Canada such as washed away roads, weakened bridges and swamped buildings. Environment Canada’s forecast for torrential downpours in the province’s east through Sunday doesn’t appear to make things any better.
Over 70,000 people were without electricity at one time.
The authorities have reported a total of 4 missing people, including 2 children. Other than this, a father and a young person went missing in a different incident after their automobiles sank in deep floodwater.
Situation in Nova Scotia
It is urged by the local authorities that inhabitants of Nova Scotia province and the Atlantic region avoid using the roadways. Roads and infrastructure have sustained substantial damage due to these heavy rains and it is speculated that the situation may continue for a while.
At this time, the conditions are unsafe for both pedestrians and people travelling via private or public vehicles.
“Naturally, I’m quite concerned about the floods in Nova Scotia province; hundreds of people are experiencing blackouts and have witnessed damage to their homes and safety threatened. I advise that those seeking safety will pay attention to the local authorities. We’re all there for each other in these challenging times.” said by the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.
In a press conference, current premier of Nova Scotia since 2021, Tim Houston said “There are numerous infrastructure damages to buildings, roads, and bridges. and it will keep expanding,”
The Canadian government has collaborated with the provincial authorities and has started working on coordinating the evacuation procedures through the involvement of The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre.
Authorities in northern Nova Scotia issued an evacuation order early on Saturday due to concerns that a dam close to the St Croix River system would collapse.
Abraham Zebian, the mayor of the area, later said that the threat has been eliminated.
Evacuation in Halifax
Halifax reported significant damage to roads and infrastructure and the Halifax regional municipality has urged the citizens to stay at home.
On Friday night, a lot of people were forced by the waterlogging and the floodwater to leave or abandon their automobiles in the middle of the road. Even while certain places are no longer experiencing flooding, several routes remain closed out of safety concerns and the possibility of more rain.
Melanie McWhirter, a resident of Hammonds Plains Road in Bedford has described the evacuation procedures as haphazard and chaotic but the comfort centres were “unexpectedly optimistic” and added that the people of the comfort centres would stay on the scene to provide food, water, charging points, tea and simply to listen to anyone who needed to talk.
It is understood that these flood like conditions arising from heavy rains are the result of climate change. Such events have been seen in other parts of the globe. Maharashtra, a city of India has been affected in this very month.
