‘I was literally piggybacking them out’: N.S. mother calls for solution to frequent flooding
Global News
Alicia Hennessey's street in Windsor, N.S., has had three major overflows in three years. The municipality says it would take millions to overhaul the storm drainage system.
It has become almost second nature for Alicia Hennessey to gather her belongings and move them to higher ground when there’s rain in the forecast for Nova Scotia. Her street has had three major overflows in the past three years, and this week’s flash flooding was no exception.
For Hennessey, heavy rain means breaking out pumps, hoses and sandbags in hopes of saving her property in Windsor, N.S., something that has become routine.
“When we knew the remnants of the hurricane (were headed this way), that’s when you start to panic,” she told Global News. “You start kicking into gear and moving things up to higher ground.”
Some communities in the Annapolis Valley reported receiving up to 110 mm of rain within an hour, and residents in Windsor, N.S. were once again pumping out their basements.
The area has a combined sewage and water system, which once again couldn’t keep up with the rainfall.
Hennessey was moving anything that can’t be wet out of her backyard, which had a visible water line of nearly four feet on Saturday.
She also had to move her kids.
“I have three small children, and I was literally piggybacking them out of here that night, and I had friends piggybacking them out,” she said.