Floodwater receding in Roddickton-Bide Arm but state of emergency remains in effect
The Town of Roddickton-Bide Arm is beginning to see the floodwaters recede, after being deluged with nearly 130 millimetres of rain since Wednesday.
As of Friday morning, the bridge connecting both sides of the amalgamated town was still intact, with one lane was opened for traffic. The road had been closed the day before, and people feared the bridge was going to wash away.
That's good news for the town, which has critical services located on both sides of the divide.
"It looks a lot better this morning," said Mayor Ken Reid on Friday. "The rain has tapered off and the water has receded a nice bit."
Reid estimated Eastern Brook had receded about five or six feet by 8 a.m. on Friday.
Local MHA Krista-Lynn Howell said most of the town was holding up against the massive rainfall.
"As of now, culverts have not failed and infrastructure is holding," she wrote in a Facebook post Thursday. "This is positive news for protection of crews working the area, and the reinstatement of infrastructure after the storm has passed."
The town declared a state of emergency Thursday afternoon. More than two dozen houses suffered water damage after the municipal system backed up, spewing water into people's homes. At least three houses near the brook suffered severe damage from the floodwater.
Water supply a concern
Drinking water is now one of the region's top concerns. The town's drinking water, which comes from the brook, isn't safe to consume right now, Reid said. A boil water advisory was brought into effect on Friday morning, asking residents to boil their water for one minute before drinking.
The local grocery store is also running low on bottled water and won't have more in until Monday.
"Our Foodland wasn't prepared for this, because we didn't expect it," Reid said. "So we'll have to get some fresh, clean water in for people to drink."
Reid said a water station was set up at the fire hall on the Bide Arm side while the road was closed. The health centre also set up a popup clinic on the Roddickton side.
"Our town council has emergency plans in place, and actually the lost mock disaster they did was exactly this," Reid said. "The flooding of the brook. So we just have to keep our plans updated and learn from what happened this time."
K-12 school Cloud River Academy remains closed Friday.
