Cleanup efforts underway in Stanley, N.B. after flood

Ice and water from last week’s flood in Stanley, N.B. has receded and cleanup efforts are now underway in the small village.

Officials from the Department of Public Safety returned to Stanley today to examine the power and force of water and ice, which swept onto many properties Thursday.

Power was hooked up to all remaining buildings where it had been disconnected, except for one home.

“There’s an oil spill in the basement there so nothing will be done until environment gives us the go-ahead,” says Mayor Mark Foreman.

But getting power back is only part of the battle faced by area residents; the flooding damaged many buildings, including the village’s fire hall.

Fire Chief Shawn Sampson says there could be as much as $100,000 worth of damage to the building, but fire crews haven’t let that stop them from responding to calls.

“We responded to a call 2 a.m. the night of the flood,” says Sampson.

“I’ve got nine pages of stuff that has been damaged or destroyed. I’m waiting to hear from the insurance company to see where we go from there.”

Area residents are also concerned about ice jams which continue to clog the Nashwaak River. Below-freezing temperatures are helping to stabilize the ice jams, but any change in weather could cause that to change quickly.

“Mother Nature is very unpredictable and I’ve never seen anything like this here,” says area resident Pat Graham.

Snow is expected to fall on the region tomorrow, which Foreman says might help the situation.

“If it’s a little bit wet it might start to rot the ice from the top down and the water running underneath might start to rot it to the top so maybe it might fall in to itself,” he says.

Cleanup efforts are expected to last for another several weeks, or even months.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Nick Moore