HALIFAX -- A massive storm washed out bridges and dozens of roads in the Maritimes as it slowly passed through the region Thursday.
Environment Canada meteorologist Jeremy March said the three provinces were deluged with rain, with the island of Grand Manan in New Brunswick receiving nearly 160 millimetres.
Rainfall amounts in central and western Nova Scotia as well as western Prince Edward Island ranged from 100 millimetres to 120 millimetres, March said.
The northern New Brunswick city of Bathurst was hit with 60 centimetres of snow before it too was drenched, he added.
Some roads in the three provinces had to be closed as a result of the storm and the risk of floods remained high because water levels were still rising in some areas, March said.
"Especially in New Brunswick where there has already been a lot of frost on the ground combined with a fair amount of snowfall, you're definitely going to be looking at localized flooding," he said.
In P.E.I., police said at least 60 roads were flooded and in one case, a bridge collapsed on Route 164 in Milburn early Thursday, causing a vehicle to fall into water. The driver escaped with only minor scrapes, the RCMP said.
A vehicle also became stuck in a sinkhole on Route 175 in Tyne Valley but no one was hurt, police said.
P.E.I. Transportation Minister Robert Vessey cautioned drivers to use care as work crews continued to assess damage to culverts and bridges.
"There is still a lot of water on the roads and crews are working hard to assess the damage," said Vessey in a statement.
The provincial Transportation Department said it anticipates the total cost of repairs would be in the multimillion-dollar range.
Dozens of roads were also shut down in Nova Scotia, including a portion of the Bedford Highway, a busy artery in Halifax. It was later reopened.
Power crews were also dealing with thousands of outages in western and northern New Brunswick.
On Wednesday, police blamed treacherous road conditions for a crash that killed three people near Fredericton.
