As floods go, this one was a doozy.
Not quite up there with the one that involved a certain ark but guaranteed to become legendary in local folklore.
One Vimy Road resident, for instance, told Colchester County Mayor Bob Taylor it was the worst flood he had seen since 1941. A Farnham Road resident for the past 47 years told him it was the worst she had seen.
We've heard reports that it couldn't have been as bad as a mid-1970s flood in which boats were able to paddle up Robie St. to the Fundy Trail Mall. But that doesn't account for the fact that the mall and surrounding parking lot have been built up over the years so the comparison is not quite accurate.
At any rate, the flood caused huge amounts of grief and consternation as it poured into basements, storage containers and main floors through the central and south Colchester lowlands. Roads and driveways were also washed out.
The damages will be huge for a community of this size and, hopefully, the pain for homeowners and businesses will be lessened somewhat through provincial and even federal aid.
Thanks go out here to the hundreds of hard-working professionals and volunteers who braved the elements on Monday and Tuesday to monitor the rising waters, direct traffic, co-ordinate resources, aid stranded residents and motorists, and so much more.
We take these men and women for granted until we need them, and in this instance they all did a great job.
Now here's the thing about the great flood of 2012. It was not the result of backed-up ice in the Salmon and North rivers, which is usually the case.
It resulted, in part, from a combination of heavy rains last week, 100 millimetres of rainfall on Monday and an early morning tide from the Bay of Fundy. This forced the water rushing down the rivers over the dykes.
Increased clear-cutting and development in other areas in of the county, which causes more river silting and reduces their water-carrying capacity, may also have contributed.
This is not new information. It was identified in a flood study from a few years ago. And until something is done Colchester County can expect more flooding - spring, summer or fall.
Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the area when those images are plastered on the national news, is it?
Awe...such kind and encouraging words for families who have lived in there homes on "those flood planes for 70 years and never experienced it enter their homes along with turned over oil tanks spewing oil everywhere, dyke breaking.....may be easy for you to say "should of ' moved as you sit back in you dry easy chair...judging others....just shut up and eat your lobster! This was not just flooding.this was a disaster...many cannot go back into their homes ever again....would you like to come and help us? Oh right, its all our fault for standing on the tracks....what a kind thoughtful fellow truro resident!!