Damage becoming clear amid historic flood
For 48 years, Jerry McFarland's rustic cottage on New Brunswick's Grand Lake was a cherished refuge for family and friends, where precious summertime memories were carefully recorded in well worn journals.
Today, McFarland's cottage is in ruins, shoved off its foundation and torn apart on the weekend by rising floodwaters.
"It was a million dollar property, to me," the 84 year old Fredericton resident said Monday. "It's just a pile of rubbish there canada goose outlet now. with canada goose outlet uk canada goose uk sale the thrashing of the water."
With the flooding in central New Brunswick finally stabilizing after reaching record levels on the weekend, the extent of damage caused in areas cut off by rising water is starting to become clear.
McFarland's cottage was one of many on Grand Lake that were swept away on Saturday as powerful winds canada goose outlet jackets pushed uk canada goose outlet the big lake to places it had never reached canada goose outlet nyc before.
"On Saturday the wind was wild," he said. "It was really the wind that blew the waves. It was the wind that really knocked down the cottages."
Pictures posted on social media show cottages, trailers and other recreational gear floating away.
McFarland, a retired school district supervisor with four grown children, said his cottage had survived previous floods that reached historic levels in 1973 and 2008. And canada goose uk outlet it was in 2008 that he raised the one storey building by 18 inches, using concrete blocks.
"I was sure that I would never get flooded," said McFarland. "But nothing like this has been recorded before in our history."
Localized flooding is practically an annual event in this part of central New Brunswick. In late April and early May, heavy rains combine with the melting snow pack in northern New Brunswick to engorge the mighty Saint John River and its tributaries, which comprise a vast basin along the west side of the province.
Grand Lake, a 45 minute drive east of Fredericton, is the province's largest lake at 20 buy canada goose jacket kilometres long and five kilometres wide. It drains canada goose black friday sale through the Jemseg River into the Saint Canada Goose sale John River east of Gagetown.
McFarland said he and his family will miss the cottage, but he's thankful no one was hurt.
Rebuilding is not an option, given the canada goose factory outlet expense, he said. However, McFarland has his eye on a official canada goose outlet used motorhome that he might park on his lakeside property.
To be sure, the loss of the cottage journals will be keenly felt by his canada goose outlet canada entire family, he said.
"Those are the memories we had from every day, and those are gone," he said, noting that his late father wrote the first entry in 1970. "It's an emotional thing as well as a tactile thing. I hope that they might possibly be around, but I doubt it."
McFarland said the cottage was insured, cheap canada goose uk though he's sure the policy doesn't offer coverage for flooding.
Vanessa and Lonnie Clark, longtime residents of the Grand Lake area, said canada goose outlet black friday their home was intact, largely because it was built on a hill in the Sunnyside Beach area.
In the flooded fields nearby, the water has been contaminated by gasoline, floating propane tanks and other flotsam, said Vanessa Clark. The deck cheap canada goose that was once attached to her mother's neighbouring home was last spotted floating across the lake.
"It's the waves that have caused so much damage," she said. "Places are sideways, they're collapsed. You look inside and the flooring and fridges are floating."
Lonnie, who has lived in the house for 51 years, said nearby beaches have been destroyed and local roads remain washed out.
"There's homes lost, there's vehicles lost, there's camper trailers lost there's hundreds of years of memories of summers spent at the lake lost," said Vanessa. "That's the feeling when you drive around the lake it's just literally a hopeless, helpless. Oh my God, your heart is broken."
Meanwhile, provincial officials said floodwaters were expected to peak Monday in the Saint John area of southern New Brunswick. At one point, the river rose to 5.7 metres above sea level at Saint John, where flood stage is 4.2 metres. It was forecast to recede to 4.8 metre above sea level by Friday.
Levels in other areas of the province, including Fredericton and Maugerville, were also https://www.thebookstop.biz forecast to recede throughout the week, while remaining above flood levels.
In Hampton, about 40 kilometres northeast of Saint John, Blair Hyslop surveyed his flooded greenhouses with weary resignation. He has been manning pumps 24 hours a day since Friday.
"We put the word out for volunteers and dozens and dozens of people came," said canada goose outlet reviews Hyslop, who runs Kredl's Corner Market.
"We estimate Canada Goose Online we used about 4,000 sandbags to canada goose outlet shop build a three foot wall all around this building. And then we pumped thousands of gallons of water over the wall, and we continue to pump continuously."
In Rothesay, where water levels are expected to crest sometime Tuesday, Kevin Beaupre said he won't feel any relief until the water on the other side of his wall of sandbags starts to recede.
"Every time a high tide comes up, I get nervous again," said Beaupre, who Canada Goose Coats On Sale packed thousands of sandbags around his home and is using pumps to drain his basement. "You see it go a little bit higher. so I'm microadjusting it."
Greg MacCallum, director of the province's Emergency Measures Organization, said residents should remain vigilant.