More rain heading for southwestern Newfoundland less than a week after damaging storm

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

CHANNEL-PORT AUX BASQUES, N.L. -

Environment Canada is forecasting more rain for southwestern Newfoundland, an area still mopping up from a massive storm last week that damaged sections of a main highway.

An alert from the federal weather agency says the Port aux Basques area along with parts of the southern coast of Newfoundland can expect up to 80 millimetres of rain tonight, with up to 100 mm falling in areas with higher elevation.

The agency is warning of flash floods and pooling on roads, and it notes that the ground in the area is already near saturation and has little ability to absorb further rainfall.

Environment Canada says that same area was hit with just over 165 mm of rain from Tuesday to Thursday last week, which set a new two-day rainfall record for the region.

The rushing waters tore apart four sections of the Trans-Canada Highway, cutting off Port aux Basques and neighbouring communities along the south coast from the rest of the island.

The provincial government said today in a news release that work on the highway is ongoing and that traffic is expected to resume this afternoon at two of the four washed-out areas.

Much of Newfoundland's food and supplies arrive via ferry at the Port aux Basques terminal, which is now inaccessible because of the highway damage. Marine Atlantic announced Thursday it would open up its seasonal terminal at the Port of Argentia, about an 850-kilometre drive east of Port aux Basques. In the meantime, the Canadian Coast Guard has been flying in supplies to Port aux Basques and neighbouring towns via helicopter.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada spokeswoman Janice Woodford said the Canadian Coast Guard delivered about 180 kilograms of medical supplies to the Port aux Basques hospital Sunday morning. She said that later in the day, a helicopter dropped off nearly 550 kilograms of milk to the community of St. Andrews, which was also cut off by the washouts.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2021.