Worries of floods at Isthmus of Chignecto increase as Lee approaches the Maritimes

As Hurricane Lee moves closer to the Maritimes, there’s one area that has a particularly unique concern – the area that connects New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

“If there is significant rain fall and flooding in the marshes, which is the Isthmus of Chignecto, [it] could flood and totally separate us from New Brunswick and the rest of Canada and make Nova Scotia an island,” said Amherst Mayor, David Kogon.

He says that the area hasn’t flooded since 1869, but the low-lying land is at high risk for floods, which brings fears of flooding to the area every time there is a threat of a hurricane or major storm.

“We know that anywhere from 25 to 33 per cent of the town of Amherst would be in the flood zone and we’d be prepared to help with the residents obviously if they have to do any evacuation,” said Kogon.

The Isthmus has been a fight between the provinces and Ottawa, with hundreds of millions of dollars needed to keep it from ending up under the water.

Kogon says there’s not much that can be done at a municipal level, but there are things being done behind the scenes.

“What we’re more active about is advocating and negotiating with our province, with all the Atlantic provinces and with the federal government to finally get something done that’s going to improve the dyke system so that flooding will be prevented,” he said.

Adding, “I am told that the bureaucrats in the background are working on developing a plan to do some modifications, whatever that turns out to be, and the engineering is complicated and technical and will be quite time consuming even if they get moving on it quickly.”

The original time frame was five years of planning and another five years for construction, but Kogon is hoping that schedule can be compressed and sped up.

“The cost of the damage caused by a flood, far exceeds any costs that would be incurred in preventing it and the impact is not just local, not even just provincial, not just regional, it’s national and will impact on this entire country,” he said.

As for this weekend and the impact that Lee might have, there are a lot of things to consider.

“It is not a full moon and that’s a good thing because the tides are much higher when the moon is full and that puts us at risk of flooding,” he said.

Adding that last year Hurricane Fiona did “enormous damage” which might be beneficial this year with many of the weaker, older trees already knocked down.

However, the storm does still pose a risk.

“The current thinking on the track of the hurricane is going to track a little west of us and bring water up the Bay of Fundy, so that puts a flood risk a little higher,” said Kogon.

Right now, Kogon says his fingers are crossed that Lee doesn’t do any significant damage and that the Isthmus will maintain its long track record of standing up to storms when it comes to flooding.

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