The Nova Scotia RCMP provided a description Tuesday of the terrifying power of torrential floodwaters that took the lives of a man and two children early Saturday and left a youth missing.
Sgt. Rob Frizzell said the children were in a pickup truck that was trying to escape to safety at around 4 a.m. when a surge of water lifted it off a rural road.
He told a news conference that the torrent deposited the truck in a normally dry hayfield, which that morning had been transformed into a lake deeper than the height of a tractor trailer.
害羞草研究所淭o put it in context, when we first came to the scene, there was also a semi truck that had been pushed off the road 害羞草研究所� and the water level 害羞草研究所� was above the truck,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淭he sheer volume of that water would be quite significant.害羞草研究所�
The RCMP announced that one child害羞草研究所檚 body was found in Brooklyn, N.S., on Tuesday morning, and they confirmed that human remains found Monday on a shoreline in a nearby county were those of the second missing child. The children were travelling with three other people who managed to escape when their vehicle was submerged in the rushing waters.
Premier Tim Houston said the province害羞草研究所檚 grief is growing as the toll from the flooding mounts. On Monday, the RCMP had announced that the body of a 52-year-old man from Windsor, N.S. 害羞草研究所� who was in another, nearby vehicle 害羞草研究所� had been found.
害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 another incredibly sad day in what害羞草研究所檚 now been a series of sad days in this province. The entire province is sick with mourning 害羞草研究所� The tragedy that害羞草研究所檚 happened here is really unimaginable,害羞草研究所� Houston said at the news conference in Windsor, N.S.
Search teams are still looking for a fourth missing person, a youth under 18 who was travelling with the 52-year-old man.
Torrential rain over the weekend dumped up to 250 millimetres of water on several parts of the province, washing out roads and bridges and causing widespread damage. Houston noted the floods are among a series of natural disasters to have hit the province in the past 12 months.
害羞草研究所淚n this province, we害羞草研究所檝e shown we can handle a lot. We害羞草研究所檝e had wildfires and hurricanes and another series of floods,害羞草研究所� he said. However, he added, none of the damage compares to the loss of human lives in the weekend deluge. 害羞草研究所淚 want the family to know how very sorry we are for their loss,害羞草研究所� he said.
Frizzell said that when the storm surge hit near Brooklyn, a small community about 55 kilometres northwest of Halifax, the vehicles were 害羞草研究所渧ery close together害羞草研究所� on the same rural route, fleeing their homes.
The sergeant said the child and the 52-year-old man were found within 50 metres of each other in the hayfield.
害羞草研究所淭hey were within 100 feet of the vehicles,害羞草研究所� said Frizzell, adding that one of the vehicles swept off the road was a large pickup truck and the other was an SUV. He said the second child was swept in tidal waters onto a shoreline in the next county, presumably carried there by the floodwaters and tides.
Police didn害羞草研究所檛 release the names or ages of the children, saying they were still being confirmed by the medical examiner害羞草研究所檚 office.
Frizzell said the search for the missing youth is concentrated in the same fields where the child was found on Tuesday.
Abraham Zebian, mayor of West Hants Regional Municipality, told reporters that news of the bodies being recovered was 害羞草研究所渂ittersweet.害羞草研究所�
害羞草研究所淭he news today will allow three families to have closure and our heart is still going out for the search for the fourth. Our entire community is with these families today. It害羞草研究所檚 been a hard couple of days, today especially,害羞草研究所� he said.
A provincewide state of emergency declared on Saturday will remain in effect until Aug. 5, and on Sunday federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair approved a request from the province for continued assistance.
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