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Kent County still reeling from weekend storm, flooding

Kent County residents and government officials alike were still reeling Monday after heavy rain and mild temperatures over the weekend caused widespread flooding and widespread damage.

Reggie Carrier, who lives in Saint-Paul, said he's never seen anything like it.

''Within a matter of hours the water was coming so fast and raining so hard. It just came up and up and up. And then it came over the road."

Some houses in Kent County were submerged under metres of water.

​Carrier estimates he has about $10,000 in damage to his finished basement.

"There was so much water, the drain that's coming from my house couldn't keep up with it," he said.

He had to drive to Moncton to buy a sump pump to deal with the about two feet of water.

"Pull out couch, there's a bed down there … We have a full bath down there, shower, everything. So there's a lot of damage around the dry wall," he said.

"And I just called my insurance and apparently I'm not insured because that happened."

Several roads in the area were also damaged by the water, said John Shortall of the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure.

"The amount of rain and stuff that we had, it was unusual for me anyway, 'cause we seen some of the places and there's a lot of water," he said.

"Some of [the roads] are so so," many of them with eroded shoulders, said Shortall.

"Then there are others that are quite bad." In McKees Mills, a whole section of road was washed away as water surged over it.

A number of work crews were out assessing the damage and fixing the roads, but there is no word on when the repairs will be complete.

Meanwhile, power crews were busy trying to restore electricity to the hundreds of homes and businesses left without heat and lights.

In Rexton, power crews faced hydro lines and trees coated in heavy ice.

Michael Armstrong, with Fundy Tree Trimming, was helping NB Power cut frozen branches away from power lines in Rexton.

His day was "busy," he said. "There's a lot for us to cut."

Yvon Arsenault of Rexton was facing his third day without power.

It's been rough, he said while doing his best to cook a hot meal on a propane camp stove — bacon, eggs and potatoes.

"When it gets to the second day or third day, after a while it starts to get to you. The older you get the worst it is," he said.

"We have a wood furnace, so we're lucky that way," said Arsenault. "We put wood in. Then at night we just shut everything down and let the wood furnace work."

He's also thankful to have a generator, he said.

During last year's ice storm, Arsenault said he went 72 hours without power. When he saw the forecast this time, he planned ahead, he said.

Jen Hudson of Mundleville was also prepared after going five days without power last year. The biggest challenge was keeping electronics charged up, she said.

"My in-laws live down the road. They were also without power, but they have a generator so last night we went up there and mooched some power from their generator and used every plug available I'm sure but we were able to get through," she said.

Hudson used her front step to store some of her groceries until her power was restored Monday afternoon.

"I always refer to this as nature's refrigerator because it's concrete, it stays cold so all my dairy products are out of the fridge and they're on the concrete steps to stay cold until everything comes back on," she said.