N.S. mom who lost son in 2023 floods says latest tragedy ‘makes things real again’

In the wake of another fatal flood incident last week, a mother who lost her child during last year's flash floods is calling for improvements to Nova Scotia's alert system.

Calls are growing for Nova Scotia to implement a flash flood alert system after a child from the community of Wolfville died amid severe flooding last week — marking the province’s second fatal flash flooding occurrence in less than year.

Last week, police said officers received a report at about 7:40 p.m. on Thursday that a youth was pulled into a water-filled ditch at a park on Highland Avenue in the community. The child’s remains were located a few hours later, at about 11:30 p.m.

Tera Sisco’s six-year-old son, Colton, died during flash flooding that occurred in nearby West Hants in July 2023. She said she was “gutted” to learn that another family will now endure a grieving process similar to what she’s been experiencing throughout the last year.

“I’m in it and I can’t imagine. It just makes things real again,” she said during an interview with Global News on Monday.

“Ever since July started, since the first, it’s like I’m living the last moments of his life on replay, my freshest memories of Colton.”

The tail end of hurricane Beryl doused parts of western and central Nova Scotia with more than 100 mm of rain in just a few hours on Thursday. Roads and homes were flooded across an area stretching from Digby to Guysborough, Environment Canada said.

Emergency alerts were issued overnight Thursday in Digby, Annapolis, Kings and Hants counties.

A year following her son’s death, Sisco said she has little faith in Nova Scotia’s emergency alert infrastructure and thinks further development is required — resulting in her taking a different approach last week when she first became aware of flooding occurring nearby.