Heavy rains caused the basement of Centennial Villa to flood, forcing staff to evacuate all 69 residents. Because the electrical panel is in the basement, the building’s power had to be shutoff and it’s going to take a while for the damage to be repaired.
“The water was right up to the rafters in the basement,” Kathy Maltby, administrator of neighbouring Gables Lodge said Monday. “We were fortunate in that we were able to evacuate the residents without any issues.”
Maltby said the heavy rain overwhelmed the culvert system on Church Street and forced the water to backup into the facility’s basement. Besides replacing the electrical panel, she expects work will have to be completed on the ventilation system and the furnace may have to be replaced.
“It’s still preliminary so it’s too early to say how long it will take,” she said. “Early estimates are it could be 30 days.”
Maltby credited Centennial Villa staff for quick action as well as members of the Amherst Fire Department, who were called to the retirement home just after fighting a fire on Fullerton Street.
She said eight of the residents have been taken in at Gables Lodge, nine have been taken to Victoria Manor and four to East Cumberland Lodge in Pugwash. Another two were admitted to the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre.
The remainder have been taken in by their families.
Maltby said it’s the first time staff has ever had to evacuate the building and the flooding was the worst she has seen in the building’s 25-year history.
Crews were on the scene all day Monday pumping water from the building’s basement. It’s not known how long it will be before repair work can be done. Power remains disconnected at the building.
Amherst Fire Chief Greg Jones said he has never seen flooding in Amherst like early Monday morning.
Cumberland County’s EMO co-ordinator Mike Johnson said facilities like Centennial Villa have evacuation plans and practice them regularly. Monday’s evacuation shows those plans do work.
Johnson was kept busy Monday checking out flooding damage. He said most of the flooding occurred in and around Amherst, although he said water levels were up along Highway 2 in Maccan (the Stony Half Mile) as well as in Nappan at the Porter Road and by Exit 4 near the Highway 104 overpass.
Johnson said approximately 100 mm of rain fell in 24 hours, while at his home he measured 110 mm.
There was also considerable flooding in Amherst itself with Dickey Brook spilling its banks forcing the closure of the intersection of East and West Pleasant Street and on South Albion Street.
The flood waters had receded in Amherst by mid-morning, but Johnson said EMO officials were still watching several others areas across the county, including Oxford. A section of the Blair Lake Road in Upper Nappan was washed out by the heavy rain.
