Residents stranded after heavy rains wash out covered bridge
At least 12 people are stranded after the Bell Bridge – the covered bridge which links Hoyt and Juvenile Settlement– was washed out by the weekends heavy rain.
Hoyt Fire Chief Daryl Price says one resident has two children and they won't be able to attend school until a temporary bridge is put in place.
Mike Levesque, originally of New Hampshire, moved to Juvenile Settlement this summer. He's awaiting a call for a triple bypass heart surgery that is expected in the days to come.
"There is no way we could get an ambulance out here," he said. "I'm not too concerned about myself but I am worried about the elderly people out here."
Levesque said he and his wife Pat are well prepared to live without access to the rest of the world, but never expected to be so cut off.
"We have our own generator," he said. "We have enough food for at least maybe a month. And we do burn wood so we're not intimidated where we live. That's why we moved here. But you would never in your lifetime expect that this would happen."
The devastating storm
Over the weekend, some parts of the province received rainfall amounts totalling 125 millimetres.
The Department of Transportation says the Bell Bridge, which was built in 1931, will "not be salvageable."
Hoyt fire chief Daryl Price was able to navigate a logging road, that's not passable in most vehicles, to get to the residents in Juvenile Settlement.
The Department of Transportation has ordered that road to be plowed to make it accessible.
Price said at this point, emergency vehicles, including most firetrucks and ambulances, would be able to get to the people on the other side of the bridge.
