It was a storm that ripped roads in Cape Breton’s Richmond County apart. Running underneath the damage near Kevin Florek’s home along the West Bay Road in Roberta, N.S., is what is normally a quiet brook. “I had to grab the door of my SUV or I would have been swept away,” Florek said of conditions Friday night and Saturday, when more than 200 millimetres of rain fell in the area. With two major road washouts near his home, Florek has basically been stranded. “There’s road breaches on both sides,” he said. “The road is impassable even from breach to breach. People are running low on water, food. “The community has been great. Everybody has been climbing down, getting stuff from the creek, passing it over so people can get food and water and essentials and stuff.” On Tuesday, work was being done on some of the biggest repairs. Nova Scotia’s Department of Public Works, along with local contractors and volunteers, were on the ground dealing with some of the 25 roads that remain closed and two bridges that have to be replaced. Fred Tilley, minister of Public Works and MLA for Northside-Westmount, said they have opened almost 100 of roughly 120 roads that were closed due to the rainfall. He also noted more than 200 culverts were damaged. “Cape Breton is open for business,” Tilley said. “But I would say, you know, the areas are very well-marked where there are issues. You’ll see workers there. Just stay away from those areas.” Brenda Chisholm-Beaton, mayor of Port Hawkesbury, said they will use drones to map the area and determine the extent of the damage in coming days. “We get storms but we never expected the damage, for the individuals to be stranded and for all this work to have to be done,” said Dundee, N.S., area resident Marilyn Talbot. Richmond County warden Lois Landry said in some places, the pavement might look OK but still not be stable underneath. “As of seven o’clock last night when we (the municipality and Department of Public Works staff) met, there were about 500 roads and bridges that still had to be inspected,” Landry said early Tuesday afternoon. Landry said that is one of the big reasons why states of emergency were declared in three Cape Breton counties, and why schools across Richmond County were closed to begin the week. “Buses won’t travel until we’re sure that they’re safe,” she said. Landry added that people’s thoughts are with the family of a 46-year-old woman whose body was found in an area near a flooded bridge in Cleveland on Saturday and with the first responders who were at the tragic scene. “They are also our friends and family, so we cannot say enough about how grateful we are for those folks and we hope that they find some peace as well after what I’m sure they endured,” Landry said. As for whether any federal help might be needed to fix all of the damage, Landry said she figures Ottawa would typically get involved in a natural disaster of this scope. With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Callum Smith For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
