Southeastern New Brunswick prepares for Teddy's rain and storm surge
It looks like New Brunswick is going to escape the worst of Hurricane Teddy, but a rainfall warning is in effect for Moncton and the southeast.
Teddy's track shifted eastward, making it less of a threat to New Brunswick.
The Category 2 hurricane was 480 kilometres south of Halifax and had maximum sustained winds of 155 km/h, according to the last update from the Canadian Hurricane Centre at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Environment Canada reported wind gusts of 80 to 100 km/h Tuesday afternoon on the south shore of Nova Scotia.
Teddy is expected to transition to a powerful post-tropical storm Tuesday evening and make landfall along the eastern shore of Nova Scotia on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, in New Brunswick, rain, at times heavy, was forecast for Moncton and the southeast, giving up bringing up to 50 mm Tuesday afternoon and into Wednesday morning.
Environment Canada said low-lying areas could see localized flooding.
Wind gusts of 70 km/h were forecast for the southeast, as well as the Fundy coast and coastal areas in the north.
Central and southwestern New Brunswick could expect the storm to bring 50 km/h wind and 20-40 mm of rain.
Only light wind and rain was forecast for the northwest.
A Moncton emergency measures official said Monday the city was preparing by clearing storm drains. He also asked residents of flood prone properties to do what they could to protect their belongings.
The operators of the wharf in Pointe-du-Chêne have taken many measures to safeguard their facility.
It was hard hit last year by the storm Dorian.
"We're not taking any chances," said Donald Boudreau, harbour authority president.
People in the community have been quite concerned about the coming storm, said Boudreau.
The wharf is taking the same precautions it would if the storm was hitting head on.
Last week, the harbour authority reviewed its plan to see if it was adequate and whether anything more could be done.
"I think we're doing pretty much everything that we can do," said Boudreau. "And the storm intensity's going to be less than predicted so I think we're going to come out alright."
The wharf is "much, much better prepared," he said, than it was for Dorian.
Ropes and cables, known as hurricane lines, were being set up, Boudreau said during an interview Tuesday morning, to tie floating docks to a wave break, made of big boulders.
The anchoring system on the floating docks was "substantially improved" in the spring, he said.
Four buildings that sustained damage from Dorian have been raised and anchored so they are at less risk of wave damage.
Some floating docks on the Shediac side that were heavily damaged last year, were not reinstalled this year.
Another set, between the main wharf and the former Pan-Am wharf, was removed last week.
Many motor boats were taken out of the water in recent days. Boudreau expected more would come out Tuesday.
Loose material has been stored away.
"This will be a nice test," Boudreau said.
"I think we're pretty well-prepared."
Many people will be anxious to see how the wharf fares in the storm and to observe the storm surge.
But Boudreau said depending on how high the water gets, access to the wharf may be cut off.
The harbour authority received a call from police during the storm Dorian because members of the public were driving over flooded roads to get a view of the scene.
Boudreau said if there is a large storm surge people should not go there to sight-see because they would be putting themselves in danger.
"We understand people are very curious. They want to see what's happening. But last year, the storm Dorian even moved some huge concrete barriers on the wharf. They were just scattered around. So that shows you the power of the water and waves."
Boudreau said the harbour authority will be monitoring the water levels closely and will set up barricades if it comes up over the access road.
