Sussex again grappling with major flooding, evacuations, street closures

Luke Belyea, a resident of Sussex who lives a little bit further from downtown, went to check on his place of work, but when he got there, flooding had already taken over. Belyea flew his drone to get a better look.

Flooding in Sussex from a day-long rainstorm has closed at least 12 roads and forced 24 people out of their homes so far.

“It’s a devastating experience when it happens and it’s happening quite frequently here,” Scott Hatcher, the southern New Brunswick town’s chief administrative officer, told Information Morning Saint John.

An emergency operations centre was mobilized on Wednesday night in the town of more than 5,700.

Hatcher said there were no signs the water was receding, although the precipitation recently switched to snow.

A warming centre is open at 1067 Main St.

Sussex resident Luke Belyea said he woke up Thursday morning to snow coming down and a flash freeze on the horizon.

But knowing how much rain fell the day before and overnight, he ventured closer to the downtown to check on his place of work, the Sussex Armouries.

“The flooding had already taken over the road down in front of the rink, all around the Armouries and all around Tim Hortons,” he said.

Without being able to get any closer but still wanting to check on his work building, Belyea, who takes photographs as a hobby, flew his drone over the area.

Hatcher said that despite barricades, people have been trying to drive on closed streets. He said he understands some people may want an up-close look at the flooding, but they are just causing more damage by creating waves.

The Sussex area has suffered a lot of flooding over the years, and this latest event brought comparisons with a major flood in April 2014. Hatchford said there was significant rain before the 2014 flood as well, but this storm met or exceeded that amount of water.

More than 200 millimetres fell this time, and many residents are experiencing property damage, he said.

Belyea said the flooding that he captured on his drone was similar to what was experienced during the flood of 2014. The only difference, he said, are the dropping temperatures, which he worries will cause even more damage to people’s homes when the water freezes.

Hatcher said the town has a flood mitigation plan but hopes to secure funding for a five-year construction project to reduce the effects of flooding.