Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement warning residents about a snow storm expected to hit New Brunswick Tuesday.
Additionally, 30 millimetres of rain are expected in the forecast. Up to 10 centimetres of snow are also expected for parts of the region before a mix of ice pellets and freezing rain falls in the morning.
Chief Harold Lowe of the Sussex Fire Department says he expects the rain won’t be too much to handle.
“We do live in a flood plain,” he says. “The river is still a little high from last week, but 30 to 40 millimetres shouldn’t be an issue.”
Officials say evacuation measures haven’t been put in place at this time, but some Sussex residents like Maria Michno say they’ve decided to leave the area as a precaution.
“It’s safe to stay in the house at some point, but you never know how much water will come next,” Michno cautions.
The town has a long history of dealing with heavy rain and officials have installed electronic equipment near the town’s river to monitor water levels.
According to officials, residents receive an emergency notice on their phone if water levels are a risk.
The town’s chief administrative officer, Scott Hatcher says getting residents to sign up for the system has been an issue.
“The difficulty we have is convincing people to sign up to the system, taking the five minutes that’s necessary to help themselves,” says Hatcher. “In Sussex we have 2,000 homes in our community and we have less than 600 people to receive emergency type notices.”
Municipal crews in Saint John were clearing a path for water to prevent localized flooding throughout the afternoon Monday.
“Whether its snow, freezing rain or rain, it takes a different approach to attack and fight that so we got to be ready for it all when an event like this takes place,” says Jeff Hussey, operations manager for Saint John.
It was two weeks ago that residents along Trout Creek in Sussex, N.B., were advised to evacuate due to a raging storm. Driveways were temporarily part of the river and basements were completely flooded.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mary Cranston.
