The picture below was taken on Friday and by yesterday afternoon that underpass was passable again.So just like that the worst of the flooding is over here in Freddy Beach. Now the cleanup begins and for many people it will be a very expensive cleanup indeed. The various levels of government have already begun their haggling to see who foots the bulk of the bill but hopefully they get it sorted out for the folks that need it most. I must reiterate that, from my perspective, the authorities did a wonderful job of keeping the public informed and allocating resources to minimize disruption and any sense of panic. Kudos again, whoever the hell you are (I would only know if they screwed up royally).
As I said on Friday, the annual thaw typically brings out the River City Gawkers and for this, the biggest flood of my lifetime, it brought out the biggest flood crowds of my lifetime. That also meant that there were thousands of photos and any number of videos. This one is probably the best one I saw but this one uses Iron Maiden so it gets the stamp of approval: Many people have asked how things are at my place and they are fine. There was some minor damage to my back door but that can be attributed to a wintertime flood of rum rather than the spring freshet. The Rugby Club, given its locale, should have been in trouble but it turns out it's an island; Loyalist Island. It always felt that way to me anyays.That water is now gone as well and just like that it's time to get on the field and play again.
We get fairly used to the annual swelling around here; the waters rise and rise but usually fall. This year they kept rising and it was nightmare fuel for a few folks before it fell again this year. As it falls now the weather will warm, it will resume its leisurely pace and go back to being our river of dreams.
When I was grabbing a coffee on the way to work this morning I saw this picture of Barker's Point in Freddy on the front page of the Gleaner:Despite the fact that this is obviously a very serious situation the first thing that came to mind was what the bizarro newscast of this event might open with: "There was no banging in Hammertown last night as the water of the Saint John river spilled its banked into the Fredericton neighbourhood". I'm a dork, what can I say.
The flood levels are starting to recede but it is still a carnival like atmosphere as the River City Gawkers make their way to the scene. I am going to head down myself in a few minutes (or at least to a patio nearby).Beyond it's sheer size, what's made this particular flood interesting is that what caused it, save for one night of heavy rain, has been good weather. The warm weather came so quickly that the huge snowmelt up North is what is causing most of the runoff. So as this disaster strikes people are walking around in shorts sunning themselves. Weird.
The weather for the weekend looks warm and sunny but the experts are saying that should will not be enough to continue the rising. Unless we get more rain the waters should recede. The floodgates are still wide open at Mactaquac but the worst of it should be over by Sunday.And then the cleanup begins.
This is a big flood; the biggest of my lifetime. Texas sized you might say:
So the prophets were accurate and the flooding is indeed as bad as ever recorded. It's kind of neat to see the river so high but it's also a monumental pain in the ass and, for some, an incredibly expensive emergency. Besides the straightaways the ramps to the Westmorland St. Bridge are shut down which would have been a traffic nightmare if most of the people in the city didn't listen to the Emergency measures folks and stayed home. Thankfully they did...except to go take tons and tons of picture.The Princess Margaret is still open but it essentially a bridge to nowhere as Riverside Dr. in Hammertown is closed and the old TCH through Maugerville>McGowan's Corner>Jemseg is where the worst of the flooding is going on and is closed.Closer to home, Union st is closed past Gibson st. but my house (and basement) has been spared so far. Overall 50 streets have been closed including many in the University Ave. area (aka the nice part of town). The latest info I have seen says that it got up to 8.33 meters which is still about a foot below the '73 flood. Regardless its still as much water as I've ever seen in (and out) of my old friendly river.I have to say that in terms of preparedness the city has done a very good job of keeping the public informed and having resources at the ready to deal with any drama. Well done to whoever the hell takes care of that kind of stuff.
So last night the rain came and came in buckets. Fredericton saw good steady rainfall but the Northern part of the province saw even more. The thing is that it all ends up in the same place (at least on the West side of NB). So the experts are now expecting flood levels to exceed the levels of the Great Flood of 1973.
I'm really not sure what this means for my place but I am hoping that we are just high enough that the basement will stay dry. The ramps to the Westmorland st. bridge are filling up and they expect it to lead to major traffic snafus come morning. Who knows it could mean that flood day will replace the snow day as schoolchildren's favourite day.And who knows maybe the next time the snow falls some smartass will use the line "At least you don't have to pump it out of your basement".
So just like that the worst of the flooding is over here in Freddy Beach. Now the cleanup begins and for many people it will be a very expensive cleanup indeed. The various levels of government have already begun their haggling to see who foots the bulk of the bill but hopefully they get it sorted out for the folks that need it most. I must reiterate that, from my perspective, the authorities did a wonderful job of keeping the public informed and allocating resources to minimize disruption and any sense of panic. Kudos again, whoever the hell you are (I would only know if they screwed up royally). 
That water is now gone as well and just like that it's time to get on the field and play again. 
