A lot of rain fell within a short period of time Monday, triggering a flash flood in the centre of Great Village, N.S.
“It even come around behind the fire hall, it come across the intersection, and down and around and out,” says deputy fire chief Larry Kinsman.
It is estimated as much as 50 millimetres of rain fell overnight, covering roads and filling basements.
Resident Nicole Morse awoke to a flood basement around seven o’clock.
“It was in the basement, yeah, it was probably a couple of feet at that time, but within 45 minutes, it jumped up three feet. My basement has been completely flooded. I have no power, no hot water, no nothing,” says Morse.
Floodwaters also swept a large propane tank off its base, sending it floating down the river of water as firefighters looked on.
“We said, ‘guys there’s nothing we can do about it, we can’t get to it,’ because the water was running so deep and so fast,” says Kinsman.
“When it went under the bridge, knocked the top off it and it blew off, and you know, there was 30, 40 feet of propane going into the air. Of course, it all went straight up,” says county councillor Tom Taggart.
The empty tank was later spotted down river.
The access road to a campground in nearby Glenhome was blocked for several hours, stranding more than a dozen campers.
“Definitely not the way I wanted to start the week,” says campground owner Winston Bennett. “Nor is it the way I wanted to end the camping season.”
The flash flood was over within a couple of hours, but it is expected the cleanup will take days or even weeks.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh
