Heavy rain causes flooding across Cape Breton, traffic restrictions in the Maritimes

CTV National News: Widespread damage in Maritimes An unexpected storm brought heavy rains and flash flooding to much of the Maritimes. Todd Battis reports.

A storm surge sweeping across the Maritimes caused major flooding in Sydney and other pockets of the Maritimes on Thanksgiving Monday.

Roads, bridges and parking lots were washed out, resulting in police advising residents to stay off the roads and the Cape Breton Regional Municipality being in emergency management mode.

Roads in Ashby, N.S., turned into lakes, with several vehicles up to their roofs in rainfall.

“It's unbelievable,” said Sydney resident Jeanette Francis. “I've never seen this before. I've never seen the water go that far out.”

At least one person was taken to hospital after being rescued from a flooded vehicle. In some cases, Good Samaritans waded through the water to make sure nobody was trapped inside the vehicles.

Emergency responders have been going full tilt since the worst rain hit in the afternoon. Fire crews have been responding to countless flooded basements, with some water rising above citizens' electrical panels.

Over 100 millimetres of rain fell in Sydney, with wind gusts reaching 90 kilometres per hour – but only a handful of power outages on the island.

As of 6:50 p.m. on Monday, Nova Scotia Power says there were upwards of 55,000 customers without power across the province.

Nova Scotia RCMP say a large pool of water settled on Highway 102 near Exit 14 in Truro, as well as Highway 104 near Exit 18 in Kemptown, N.S.

“I pulled over and checked the tires. All of a sudden we started to sway just as we were hitting the cross winds,” said vacationer Jack Ferguson.

Confederation Bridge officials say the strong winds have restricted certain vehicles from crossing. The restrictions were put into place at 11:50 a.m by Straight Crossing Bridge Ltd., which manages the bridge linking P.E.I. to New Brunswick.

Truck drivers say the longer they have to wait to cross the bridge, the more money they lose.

“It's not very nice to be shut down. It's nice to keep the wheels in motion. That means money for drivers and the company,” said truck driver Mike Cass.

Marine Atlantic and Northumberland Ferries cancelled Maritime crossings.

Despite the dangerous conditions, the Under 14 National Soccer Championship in Moncton continued. Organizers say players are being treated for a wide range of injuries.

“The players will suffer ankle, upper leg injuries, inner thigh injuries and hamstrings and stuff like that. We have physio here and we also have a nurse on staff as well,” said John Trainor of the tournament’s organizing committee.

The storm is expected to last until early Tuesday morning.