The last:
- They find the body of a 52-year-old man, as well as unidentified human remains, in search of four people missing after two the vehicles were submerged in the flood waters. Two children and a young man remain unaccounted for.
- Nova Scotia’s application for federal assistance is approved.
- State of emergency in force throughout the province.
- Evacuation order issued for camp near Mahone Bay.
- Lunenburg District Municipality declares local state of emergency.
- If the power or data on your device is low, get your storm updates on text-only CBC Lite.
The body of a 52-year-old man and unidentified human remains were found two days after the search began for four people, including two children, a youth and the man, when the vehicles they were in submerged during devastating flooding in Nova Scotia.
RCMP said Monday afternoon that the man’s body was found in the main search area in West Hants Township around 9 a.m. local time Monday, while unidentified human remains were found by civilians in nearby Kings County around 11:30 a.m.
Police said they are working with the Nova Scotia Medical Examiner’s Office to identify the remains, which they cannot yet confirm if they are related to the original search, but have good reason to believe they are related.
Two children and a young man remain unaccounted for.
“All hands on deck right now,” said West Hants RCMP Sgt. Rob Frizzell.
Police said they continue to use “high-flow, industrial” pumping equipment to lower the water level in the main Brooklyn search area.
Search and rescue teams from West Hants, East Hants and Annapolis Valley, two police dogs and several helicopters, including one provided by the Department of Natural Resources, are involved in the search.
The RCMP said a van believed to be carrying two missing children was found in a flooded field on Sunday, but no one was inside.
A second vehicle, which was carrying the man and the missing youth, was also located, Frizzell said.
Police said they do not expect to provide any further updates on Monday.
Rescue workers from the Halifax Joint Rescue Coordination Center worked over the weekend to rescue people from floodwaters that devastated parts of Nova Scotia.
‘A heartbreaking day for our province,’ says prime minister
Speaking from the West Hants RCMP detachment in Windsor, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston expressed his condolences.
“It is a heartbreaking day for our province,” he said. “We can rebuild roads, bridges and buildings, but we can’t bring people back, and the legacy of these floods will be the incredibly tragic loss of life.”
To protect the privacy of the families, RCMP said they will not yet release the identities of the missing or any other personal information.
Earlier Monday, the prime minister noted that the recent natural disasters Nova Scotia has experienced, including hurricanes, wildfires and now floods, have been taxing on first responders and residents alike.
“We have the expression ‘Strong Nova Scotia’, but do we have to keep testing it?” Houston said.
“Each of those situations has required people to really step up and help their friends, neighbors and first responders. They don’t wait. The phone rings, they jump up and go.”
Much of the province has been dealing with severe flooding and impassable roads after torrential rains swept through overnight Friday and Saturday.
A province-wide state of emergency was declared Saturday night, with West Hants, East Hants, Halifax Regional Municipality, Lunenburg County and Queens County considered among the hardest-hit areas.
On Sunday evening, Federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said he had approved a request for federal assistance from the province.
Houston said the province applied late Saturday to help cover uninsurable costs.
Public Works Minister Kim Masland said on Monday that 19 bridges were damaged by flooding and six were completely destroyed.
Train services between Halifax and the rest of the country have been halted after a section of the main rail line near Truro washed out following historic rain.
Masland said progress is being made on road and bridge repairs, but it will take some time to get a full damage assessment given that water levels are still high in some areas.
Masland said the teams are working tirelessly, pointing to a “success story” in East Hants, where 400 people were stranded after the only bridge to the Atlantic Motorsport Park was washed out.
The Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship was scheduled to take place on Saturday. The event was cancelled, but some crew and drivers were already at the scene.
Masland said workers arrived Sunday morning and were able to build a temporary bridge over the remains of the existing bridge.
“They worked until 10:30 p.m. last night in extreme heat and were able to make it passable with a bridge structure for people to get out last night,” Masland told CBC. Morning Information Nova Scotia.
An Annapolis Valley fire chief says firefighters wading through chest-deep water Sunday were swept by the current and into a nearby tree. Crews were responding to a call of someone trapped by floodwaters in Three Mile Plains, NS Jason Ripley told CBC’s Jean Laroche of the stressful 20 minutes trying to get everyone out to safety.
She said it’s too soon to put a dollar amount on the damage to provincial infrastructure.
Canada Post said Monday that mail pickup and delivery is suspended in the province until the company can better assess safe areas for delivery. Post offices are closed for the day.
The RCMP has said that the best source for the latest road conditions is 511, both by phone and online.
Halifax-area residents are getting ‘tired’
Halifax Regional Municipality Mayor Mike Savage said the flooding came less than two months after a wildfire ripped through 151 homes in the Hammonds Plains and Upper Tantallon areas, where many people are dealing with flooded basements.
“I think this continued escalation of all the different weather events that we’ve had has certainly made people very tired,” Savage said. Morning Information Nova Scotia.
“It’s really distressing… My heart breaks for all these people and particularly the families of the people we’re looking for.”
Savage said it’s too soon to have a full picture of the damaged infrastructure in the borough, but more than 300 work orders have been received, including damage to roads, sewers and parks.
A map of the roads blocked due to flooding in the Halifax region is available here.
Halifax Regional Deputy Fire and Emergency Chief David Meldrum said 255 calls for service were received during the storm, from people trapped in buildings and cars to floodwaters that triggered fire alarms.
“It was more like a taxi company than a fire department,” Meldrum said. “Lots of risks for firefighters. Fast moving water is very dangerous for civilians and also for us. It can hurt firefighters, kill firefighters.”
beach, lake closed
Sandy Lake Beach in Bedford is closed to swimming and recreational activities until further notice due to an overflow from the Halifax Water sewage pump station adjacent to the lake.
Halifax Water said the flooding caused the pump and its electrical systems to fail at the station on Farmers Dairy Lane, and wastewater is flooding directly into the lake.
Jake Fulton, a spokesman for Halifax Water, says people in affected areas are being asked to reduce the flow of water.
“That’s everything that goes down the drain, the shower, the dishwasher, the clothes, all those things, they go through this system and end up in this area,” he explained. “So the less that’s flushed down the drains, the lower the environmental impact will be on Sandy Lake.”
Halifax Water has also informed residents living near Fletchers Lake north of Fall River, NS that the sewage system in this area may have overflowed into Fletchers Lake during last weekend’s flooding.
People are advised not to engage in recreational activities on Fletchers Lake, such as swimming and rowing. The utility is also asking residents in the affected area shown on the map below to reduce their water discharge to relieve pressure on the system.
At the same time, Halifax Water is also considering repairing or replacing up to seven cross-drain tunnels under major Halifax Regional Municipality roads.
Those affected by the flooding in the borough can go to the comfort center set up at the East Dartmouth Community Center at 50 Caledonia Rd., which will remain open until further notice, the city said.
By Monday night, only about 240 Nova Scotia Power customers were without power, down from a peak of about 80,000 at the height of the storm.
