Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press/AP
A truck was abandoned in flood water after a major rain event in Halifax on Saturday.
CNN –
Three months of single-day rains have inundated Canada’s Nova Scotia province since Friday night, swamping roads, forcing evacuations and missing at least four people – including two children.
A nationwide state of emergency has been declared, including for the regional community of Halifax and the nearby cities of East Hants, West Hants, Lunenburg and Queens.
“We had biblical levels of rain overnight and into the day,” Halifax Mayor Mike Savage said Saturday.
On Sunday, Canadian police said they are continuing to search for two children, a teenager and a man who went missing after the vehicles they were traveling in went underground in two separate incidents early Saturday.
“Last night the RCMP Underwater Recovery Team conducted an underwater search of a flooded field and located an unoccupied pick-up truck believed to be the vehicle the children were traveling in,” the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement. “Search efforts for the four people and the second vehicle are continuing in the same area.”
Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press/AP
A man wearing waders walks past abandoned cars in the floodwaters in a shopping center parking lot in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Saturday.
Prime Minister Tim Houston said on Twitter on Sunday: “Thank you to Nova Scotia First Responders for their incredible work in response to the flooding.”
Houston said at a news conference Saturday that three people traveling with the missing children escaped from their vehicle and two people were rescued from the other car.
“I can’t stop thinking about these families and these four people,” Houston told reporters. “I want them to know that everything that can be done is being done. I know the entire province is praying with me for their safe return.”
An estimated 10 inches (250 millimeters) of rain hit the province in one day, Houston said.
“We got three months’ worth of rain in less than 24 hours,” he said. “It came fast and it came furiously.”
Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press/AP
A washed out bridge near Newport Corner, Nova Scotia on Sunday.
On Sunday, Houston told reporters that authorities were working to repair closed roads and damaged infrastructure systems.
“Across the province, about 25 bridges are affected, 19 were damaged. Investigations are ongoing, but six – six – of those bridges have just been completely destroyed,” he said during a news conference on Sunday. “It’s incredible to see the power of the water and the impact it has had. We are working to open our roads as soon as possible.”
A temporary bridge is also due to be completed Sunday night, according to the Nova Scotia Public Works Department, to allow the nearly 400 people isolated at a motocross track in East Hans to return to their destinations.
Tyler Ford/Handout/Portal
Extensive flooding hit an area of Bedford, Nova Scotia on Saturday.
While hundreds are returning home after the evacuation, others are still displaced and receiving help from the Red Cross, Nova Scotia officials said.
About 750 people were ordered to flee the Halifax area overnight on Friday, while more than 400 homes were evacuated in Lunenburg, authorities said on Saturday.
Water levels remain high in many affected areas of the province, so residents are being urged to seek shelter on the spot and only return home if told it is safe to do so.
According to the Nova Scotia government, the state of emergency declaration will remain in effect until August 5 unless officials cancel or extend it.
“Our community is once again faced with terrible violence and unpredictability, nature and a changing climate,” Mayor Savage said Saturday.
“This was an extraordinary event and I know it follows the wildfires of not long ago and even last fall’s Hurricane Fiona,” the Halifax Mayor added.
Some Halifax-area communities are still recovering from the major wildlife disaster that began in late May and resulted in evacuation orders for about 16,400 residents and destroyed 151 homes, CNN’s Canadian affiliate CBC reported.
Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press/AP
An abandoned car in a shopping mall parking lot in Halifax on Saturday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered his support to the people of Nova Scotia a post on Twitter On Saturday afternoon, he said that with air and sea support, we are “providing resources to assist with evacuations — and we stand ready to provide any additional federal resources that may be needed.” Please everyone stay safe.”
Trudeau also spoke with Houston Saturday and emphasized federal and local cooperation in search and rescue efforts, Trudeau’s office said in a news release.
“The Prime Minister reiterated the Government of Canada’s commitment to assist residents of Nova Scotia in managing the flooding in the coming days and weeks,” the press release said. “He also recognized the strength of Nova Scotians who stick together and stand up for one another in difficult times.”