The people of Stanley, New Brunswick are bracing for the worst.
A stubborn ice jam that’s already flooded the little village on a bend in the Nashwaak River threatens even more damage.
The water levels in Stanley are receding but the anxiety levels remain high.
“Yeah it was the power of Mother Nature,” says Stanley resident, Twila Ryan. “That ice and water was moving fast, like within ten minutes, it had come right clear across the road.”
Late Thursday afternoon the Nashwaak River was pushing past its bank, spilling into Stanley.
“I had my grandsons with me and we were stepping back as we were watching,” describes Ryan.
Several homes were overwhelmed by the rushing flood waters.
Some residents had little or no warning.
One man was caught off guard and had to climb into the back of a truck to be rescued from his home.
“I can’t swim,” says Stanley resident, Jack Smith. “So I said, well if no one comes and gets me, I’m dead because I can’t swim a stroke, so I said, I’ll have to stay there until someone either comes, and gets me or I’m gone.”
Water overtook a garage before cars could be moved.
Even the fire department had to scramble to move equipment from their hall, before the river washed in.
Waters began to recede, but the massive ice jam remains a looming treat.
“The ground will rumble here, it’ll rattle the windows in the houses around here,” explains Chief Shawn Sampson of the Stanley Fire Department. “It’ll go down that hard with that much noise, it’s violent, shakes you up a little bit.”
When the ice in Stanley does move, it will ultimately find its way to MacLaggan Bridge, just a couple of kilometers down stream, where another ice jam also exists,
“It’s going to move, when we don’t know, and how much destruction it’s going to do in the meantime when it does move,” says Chief Sampson.
“Ice jam conditions and ice movement can change at any time,” explains Nadine Caissie Long of the New Brunswick River Watch. “Just because rivers are declining, ice can still move along and people still need to be very vigilant.”
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Andy Campbell
