A flooded Nova Scotia field was the focus of an intense weekend search for four people, including two children, lost after rushing waters caused by torrential rains swamped the vehicles they were travelling in.
RCMP Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay said efforts were continuing in the area of West Hants, a largely rural municipality northwest of Halifax where the people were reported missing in separate incidents on Saturday.
Tremblay said a dive recovery team conducted an underwater search of the field Saturday evening and located an unoccupied pick-up truck believed to be the vehicle in which the children were passengers.
He said the truck was submerged in over two metres of water, adding the search was continuing in the same area for all four people and a second vehicle.
害羞草研究所淲e are talking about flood waters that have zero visibility, so that definitely makes searching difficult where divers have to do a search according to touch,害羞草研究所� Tremblay said in an interview.
害羞草研究所淲e are mobilizing industrial (pumping) equipment to try to lower the water levels. We害羞草研究所檙e going to keep searching and we害羞草研究所檙e not going to give up hope,害羞草研究所� he said.
Police said earlier the children were with three other people who managed to escape from a vehicle that got stuck in floodwaters. A second vehicle carrying four people was also submerged and two people escaped, but a youth and a man remain unaccounted for.
And while the floodwater had largely receded by Sunday afternoon, it left behind a network of destroyed roads and bridges in the West Hants area and in other parts of the province. Flooding on the Meander River and Crawford Brook in West Hants washed out two bridges and a road, a vital link for one family.
Will Mounce said his 97-year-old aunt, Irene Harvey, requires daily visits from personal care workers for everything from medication to meals.
害羞草研究所淥ur concern always is, our bridge is our lifeline,害羞草研究所� Mounce said. 害羞草研究所淭o have it out of commission for a long period of time, we害羞草研究所檙e trying to work around it.害羞草研究所�
Mounce害羞草研究所檚 family is taking turns preparing meals and is working on forging a path for a tractor to access the main highway. He built his home on the bank of the Meander River, just down the hill from the family homestead where he grew up.
害羞草研究所淚 know I live on a floodplain,害羞草研究所� he said, surveying what害羞草研究所檚 left of a washed-out bridge. 害羞草研究所淭his is something I was always scared would happen. But I was sort of hoping, if it害羞草研究所檚 a 100 year storm, that I would expire before that 100 years comes around.害羞草研究所�
His uncle, Howard Harvey, said the flooded brook knocked out the foundation of his barn, which held decades worth of farm equipment and memories.
Harvey, 92, began farming Hereford cattle in the 1950s, and only just recently retired.
害羞草研究所淚 have never seen a storm like that,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淛ust so long lasting. I don害羞草研究所檛 know how many hours of rain we had.害羞草研究所�
Just down the road from a popular provincial campground is Shirley害羞草研究所檚 Pizza, where owner Bobby Maskine said he walked in on Saturday morning and initially thought the roof on the nearly 200-year-old building had collapsed. Instead, he discovered the basement was full of about four metres of murky, brown floodwater.
He believes his store will be closed for weeks, 害羞草研究所渁 major hit害羞草研究所� in the height of tourism season.
害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檓 trying to keep myself calm because everyone is going through it,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淭here害羞草研究所檚 disaster everywhere, but this is the worst time of year for this to happen, for sure.害羞草研究所�
Meanwhile, a state of emergency was lifted in the district of Lunenburg where there had been fears of a potential dam breach in the Fancy Lake area. Mayor Carolyn Bolivar-Getson said waters in the lake were no longer rising and were now considered stable, so an evacuation order was lifted for 440 households in the vicinity.
Premier Tim Houston praised first responders during a media briefing Sunday and said the entire province was holding out hope for the missing.
害羞草研究所淭o the families, you have an entire province praying for your loved ones害羞草研究所� safe return,害羞草研究所� he said.
The premier said that while water levels were still high in many of the affected areas of the province they were starting to recede after Friday and Saturday害羞草研究所檚 deluge.
He said 25 bridges had been affected across the province, with 19 damaged and six completely destroyed.
害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 incredible to see the force of the water and the impact it害羞草研究所檚 had,害羞草研究所� said Houston, who added that there were still between 500 and 600 people who remained out of their homes across the province.
Environment Canada meteorologist Bob Robichaud said the heavy rain, which began Friday, dumped between 200 and 250 millimetres along the province害羞草研究所檚 South Shore, across the Halifax area and into central and western parts of Nova Scotia.
He said the weather system was expected to pass through Cape Breton and out of the province by mid-day Sunday after drenching the island and eastern Nova Scotia with about 175 millimetres of rain.
Hammonds Plains, Bedford and Lower Sackville were the hardest hit areas of the Halifax region where more than 200 millimetres of rain flooded roads, parking lots, sports fields and the basements of homes.
Erica Fleck, director of emergency management and community safety for Halifax Regional Municipality, said 200 residents were still displaced Sunday.
害羞草研究所淥ur biggest issue right now is that the water levels did not recede in a lot of places and we can害羞草研究所檛 continue to do assessments until those water levels go down,害羞草研究所� said Fleck. 害羞草研究所淚n some areas we still have bridges that are well over five feet under water.害羞草研究所�
Houston declared a provincewide state of emergency on Saturday, which will remain in effect until Aug. 5 unless the government terminates or extends it.
Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said he approved a request Sunday evening for federal assistance from Nova Scotia 害羞草研究所渁s communities across the province recover,害羞草研究所� in addition to federal resources that had been supporting the immediate response efforts over the weekend.
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