Concern grows in Cape Breton as region braces for more potential rain
In an area already hit by record rainfalls last week, it appears more is on the way.
Communities along the Cabot Trail are just starting to pick up the pieces from the damage done by flooding and road washouts. The hope is another downpour forecast for Monday won't cause any more destruction, or undo temporary repairs that have already been made.
"I am sensing a lot of concern about the rain coming tomorrow”, said Ingonish-area councillor Larry Dauphinee. "Some reports are saying up as high as 70 mm, which usually wouldn't be anything to be concerned about.”
Dauphinee says his biggest concern is shoulder washouts along the highway.
"The shoulders down there are like three to four feet deep – trenches”, he said. “More rain coming, where's it going to go? So my concern is that it's going to undermine the pavement there."
After touring the hardest hit areas by helicopter on Saturday, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston is promising recovery support from all three levels of government.
"The damage was clear. The physical damage to homes and to roads”, Houston said. "[What’s next is] making sure that we're there to help them get things rebuilt. Give them some comfort that the province will be there, the municipality, the federal government - all three - to support them financially."
With how much widespread damage has been done, some are wondering if that will be enough.
"The concern is definitely there”, Dauphinee said. “We're hearing stories there may be some financial assistance, especially for basements that have been flooded and some of the homes that have been damaged. But again, it's the time frame. There's no definite answer."
In the meantime, community members have been helping one another in the air and on the ground. An EMO-led helicopter was back in some stranded areas Sunday with more supplies, and they weren’t the only ones lending a hand.
"Breton Air and Destination Cape Smokey helping out with helicopters”, said Dauphinee. “[Local fishermen] with their boat, taking teachers down by boat this morning to Neil's Harbour."
Dauphinee said with a long recovery from the storm just beginning, residents are simply hoping for the best from Monday’s weather.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.