Floodwaters are rushing in to some New Brunswick communities. Farm fields, ballparks and parking lots are already under water in the Hillsborough area, while other communities are watching and waiting.
Rising floodwaters have encircled three businesses in Hillsborough. Business owner Emily Broad has been using an all-terrain vehicle to get to and from her store.
“We’re picking up customers on the Argo, we’re trying to make it fun for everybody, but yeah, it’s hindering our business for sure,” says Broad.
A section of Highway 114 was passable Tuesday morning, but the water continued to rise and eventually covered both lanes.
By 2 p.m., officials with the Department of Transportation decided the road was no longer safe and closed it.
Hillsborough residents aren’t only at the mercy of melting snow in the hills; high tide in the Petitcodiac River closes the sluice gates, making floodwaters back up into the village.
Bruce Alcorn of the Hillsborough Floodwaters Group wants the culverts to be bigger, but provincial engineers disagree.
“They claim that if they enlarge the aboiteaux and make them larger and dredge the canal, it wouldn’t really change a whole lot,” says Alcorn. “As a group, we weren’t very impressed with that.”
Jeffrey Cooke opened a business in Hillsborough six months ago. He says he knew the store was in a flood-prone area.
“Just picked everything up, got all of our boxes and anything else up off the floor,” says Cooke. “When we designed the store we knew about flooding so we’ve got no carpet.”
New Brunswickers living near the province’s rivers are on alert as water levels continue to rise.
River Watch officials are also monitoring numerous ice jams that have formed along the St. John River and other river systems.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Jonathan MacInnis
