Middle River neighbours stick together through ice jam and flooding
Bathurst-area residents relieved to see the worst over, but they want a fix
After four tense days, Pierre and Therese Theriault and their neighbour Maurice Doucet are starting to see a bit of relief after being awakened early Saturday by an ice jam outside Bathurst on the Middle River.
Doucet, who has lived beside the river for 30 years, described the noise as loud and scary.
"I ran over here to wake them up," he said of his next-door neighbours, who were sleeping in a winterized gazebo next to the river.
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But the noise had also awakened Therese, who heard the ice moving along the breakwater her husband built last summer after the 2017 flooding.
"I hear a big noise. I get up and I lift the curtains and there they go. I just yell at Pierre, 'Get up.'"
The couple ran in their pyjamas and bare feet to the front step and through the water that was already in their yard.
River diverted
The ice jam diverted the water from the river onto Matilda Street and their properties. Doucet said a big bank of snow was all that saved him from getting huge chunks of ice on his front lawn and more water than he did.
All three describe what they've lived through as a disaster.
"Before, it was like, we flood and it was bad enough, but this year, I cannot describe — but just a disaster," said Therese, adding they've lived in the property since 1999, describing it as their little piece of paradise.
"We are too old now to go through that kind of stuff."
The couple and Doucet, with the help of family and friends, worked all weekend pumping water from underneath their houses, breaking up chunks of ice and keeping a close eye on the river.
"It's a good thing we stayed here to save the rest of what we got here," Therese said.
Pierre said they were encouraged to leave, but knew they'd be facing more damage if they didn't stay put. He added the water was up at least four feet, or 1.2 metres, at its highest.
Close contact
All three stayed in close contact with Ken McGee, the regional emergency management co-ordinator for Restigouche and Chaleur regions.
McGee said he depends on the Theriaults and Doucet for information about the river.
While water levels on the road have dropped and the worst of it is over, the ice jam is still in place, slowly moving down river.
"But I cannot feel safe until all the ice is gone," Therese said. "It's not pretty to look outside."
Pierre and Doucet are hoping government officials will meet with them to discuss options for mitigation, "so if it happens again, it won't be as bad."
Pierre suggested cutting a few trees on the other side of the river to allow the ice a wider path and removing a few big rocks farther down.
"Three years ago, I went down in my waders and I could see all the ice on top of those rocks," he said. "There was nothing from those rocks down and from those rocks up. It was the jam.
Find a fix
The Theriaults said that for them, the area is home and they want to stay and hope something can be done to help.
Doucet, however, said he wants out. But without insurance coverage and no viable opportunity to sell his home, he's frustrated.
"I'd like to be relocated."
Meanwhile, on the Tetagouche River, residents on Elliot Lane in North Tetagouche, about 15 kilometres northwest of Bathurst, are now able to return home, said McGee.
Eight people asked for help getting out of the area on Saturday after an ice jam flooded their homes.
McGee said there is no power and he was unsure when it would be restored.
Closer to Campbellton, in the Eel River-Dundee area, the flooding situation continues to be monitored by EMO as it waits to see what the tides Tuesday night and Wednesday morning will do.
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