Nova Scotia medical examiner says too early to decide on probe into July flood deaths

Numerous potential areas of improvement in emergency response have been raised by the parents of one of the six-year-old victims, as they have called for an independent inquiry.

Nova Scotia’s chief medical examiner says he “could” consider asking the Justice Minister to conduct an inquiry into the deaths of four people in flash flooding that hit the province in July.

However, Dr. Matthew Bowes says he’ll wait until other investigations and reviews are complete before deciding whether to make such a request under the province’s Fatality Investigations Act.

Bowes says in an email to The Canadian Press that the public agencies involved are still conducting internal reviews, and therefore it would be “premature to consider an inquiry in this matter.”

Two six-year old children, a 52-year-old man and a 14-year-old girl died during flash flooding after being swept away as waters poured onto a rural highway northwest of Halifax, near Brooklyn, N.S., on the morning of July 22.

Numerous potential areas of improvement in emergency response have been raised by the parents of six-year-old Colton Sisco, one of the victims, and they have called for an independent inquiry.

Tera Sisco, Colton’s mother, says an inquiry under the provincial legislation could look at issues that include the slow pace of sending emergency alerts, the lack of adequate cellular service in rural Nova Scotia and the need for accurate flood plain mapping.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2023.