Torrential rains and high-speed winds hammered Cape Breton Island and parts of the northeastern mainland of Nova Scotia over the weekend, flooding and damaging roads, cutting off power to tens of thousands of residents, and leaving one person dead.
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rains → hammer → person
Environment and Climate Change Canada issued a severe weather warning for all of Cape Breton on Saturday morning while 200 millimetres of rain poured over the region.
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millimetres → issue → region
A state of emergency was declared for the counties of Inverness, Richmond and Victoria.
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state → declare → Inverness
In Richmond County, first responders recovered the body of a missing 46-year-old Cape Breton woman, the RCMP said.
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RCMP → recover → woman
Crews started searching for her after she was reported missing earlier that morning when her vehicle was found parked near her home on a flooded bridge in the community of Cleveland, N.S.
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vehicle → start → Cleveland
In a news release, the RCMP said the death was not considered suspicious.
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death → say → release
On Sunday, Environment Canada ended its weather alerts, but Nova Scotia’s Department of Emergency Management said roads across the region continued to be affected by flooding.
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roads → end → flooding
Jacqueline Cassel-Cramer and Arthur Cramer, who have been road-tripping around Nova Scotia for the past week in a rented camper van, said the rain and windy conditions picked up around Friday evening.
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rain → trip → evening
The Winnipeg-based couple in their 60s pulled into a campground near Baddeck, N.S., on Cape Breton’s Bras d’Or Lake on Friday night unaware of any weather advisories.
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couple → base → advisories
Ms. Cassel-Cramer said they had told the campground owners of their plan to visit the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site on the southeastern coast of the island the next day.
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they → say → island
“They said, ‘There’s a massive storm.
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They → say → ?
You’re not going to be able to go anywhere.’
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You → go → ?
They really tried to talk us out of it,” Ms. Cassel-Cramer said.
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Cramer → try → it
Throughout the night, the weather turned inclement, she said, recalling the camper van rocking back and forth from the wind, and heavy rain seeping into parts of the van.
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van → turn → van
“That was pretty intense, and it got rather scary.
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it → get → ?
I was starting to feel a little bit afraid,” Ms. Cassel-Cramer said.
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Cramer → start → ?
These conditions continued Saturday throughout the day and evening, before ameliorating Sunday morning.
“We could see a little bit of blue sky trying to break through the clouds,” she said on Sunday.
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she → continue → Sunday
The couple has since made their way west along Highway 105, which was clear despite washouts on the shoulders toward the Canso Causeway, the crossing that connects Cape Breton Island to the mainland of Nova Scotia.
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that → make → Scotia
On the other side of Bras d’Or Lake, near Dundee, N.S., Sophie Symonds woke up around 4 a.m. on Saturday morning when her downstairs neighbours called her because their apartment had flooded.
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apartment → wake → her
In a hurry, Ms. Symonds and her neighbours scrambled to salvage what they could from the ground-floor apartment while losing power in the process.
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they → scramble → process
Outside, the water on the street reached their knees.
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water → reach → knees
If they ventured out, the strong current would have swept them away, she said.
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she → venture → them
“The whole road kind of looked like we were on a river.
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we → look → river
We had no road left.”
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We → have → road
Ms. Symonds’ apartment is about a 15-minute walk away from Dundee Resort and Golf Club, where she and her neighbours work.
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she → work → Resort
In truckloads, Ms. Symonds and about 10 other employees managed to make it to the resort that morning – where they have been hunkered down since.
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they → manage → resort
Despite the storm, guests and employees of the resort made the most of being stranded.
“Everybody was gathering and laughing and talking, and just trying to make the best of the situation.
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Everybody → make → situation
It was nice to have everybody in one spot,” she said.
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she → have → spot
On the western coast of Cape Breton, the village of Inverness was also battered with high-speed winds and buckets of rain.
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village → batter → rain
I thought the roof was going to come off my house, seriously,” Ruth Skinner, an Inverness local, said.
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Skinner → think → house
Earlier this morning, Ms. Skinner and her friend of 50 years, Ray Walker, the owner of Dusky Diamonds Bed & Breakfast, drove down to the beach to get some fresh, salty air.
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Skinner → drive → air
Ms. Skinner’s house and Mr. Walker’s bed and breakfast had suffered power outages beginning in the early hours of Saturday morning – among the 40,000 homes and businesses that lost power, according to Nova Scotia Power.
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that → suffer → Power
“We wanted to have a look at the waves, and because there’s no power, hard to get any work done at the Dusky,” Ms. Skinner said.
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Skinner → want → Dusky
Since then, the power has returned to Mr. Walker’s bed and breakfast.
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power → return → bed
They have a full house this evening.
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They → have → house
On their evening plans: “Turn the heat up, get it nice and warm, and relax,” Ms. Skinner said.
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Skinner → turn → heat
The Aporia
