As the floodwaters recede, the full extent of the damage in New Brunswick is becoming clear.

Sean Parfitt had a near-miss on a washed out road Thursday.

“I was coming down the hill, I just wanted to get to work and get the day over. I knew there was a washout already down here, so I slowed down to about 60 (km/h),” Parfitt said. “There was a haze on the road, and it was just there – it just happened. Before I knew it the car had already, it just so happened to hit the perfect spot that it landed perfectly sideways.”

He phoned 911 and was able to get out of the badly damaged car. The only side effect of the crash was chest pains.

“Knowing the circumstances and knowing what happened to everyone else, I was damn lucky,” Parfitt said.

Rivers in Belleisle, N.B., are receding Friday.

“The crews are out now so they’re doing their jon, and we hired a number of independent contractors and hopefully we’ll get more of them into the field,” said PC MLA Bill Oliver. “When I’ve driven around the riding, it’s amazing how much damage there really is.”
That damage means some residents have no way in or out of their homes.

“Have no way to get in touch with anybody,” said Rose LeBlanc. “Our cellphones don’t work up here, there’s no reception. We have no telephone, we can’t contact our families. We can’t get out, we can’t get back.”

That is prompting the local MLA to ask that Bailey bridges be brought in to help with access.

“I would think that everything is a possibility right now. Having spoken to the minister, the ministers say we’re going to get this fixes and do it as soon as possible,” Oliver said.

Schools in the Anglophone West School District Zone 9 were closed for a second day on Friday. With nearly 20 roads washed out in the area, the Department of Transportation felt it would be unsafe to send school buses on the roads.

New Brunswick’s Emergency Measures Organization is urging drivers to keep a close eye on the roads.

Engineers and road crews were out assessing the damage in other parts of the province, as well. In Gagetown, some sections of road are expected to be repaired within three or four days. Repairs near Hoyt, N.B., are expected to take longer.

“Some of these projects will take several months to fix actually, because we have holes that exist that may be 100 feet wide, where we may have to put temporary bridges in as opposed to a pipe,” said road engineer Norman Clouston.

Many people in Hoyt were trapped by high water and washed out roads Thursday. A detour is now available, but some will have to drive an extra 20 kilometres.

The Minister for Transportation and Infrastructure says public safety is still his top concern.

“I’m not as concerned about the cost right now,” said Roger Melanson.

Melanson admits that the frequency of these devastating weather events may mean the government has to set aside more money in future budgets.

“We do have a program for maintenance repair, so right now we’re using that budget,” he said.

In the meantime, many are left to wait and wonder how long it will take before their community is connected again. 

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ashley Blackford and Nick Moore