Dozens vacate Lower Debert campground amid heavy rain

Heavy rain early Sunday led dozens of people to vacate the Elm River RV Park in Lower Debert, N.S.

Greg Muise, the Onslow Belmont Fire Brigade chief, said the fire department responded to a call that the campground was flooded at around 1 a.m.

The fire department said about 30 RVs left the park. It was not a mandatory evacuation.

When the fire department, RCMP and EMO arrived, most of the park had 30 millimetres of water on the ground and it was twice that in some low sections.

“When we got there, we could see it was starting to flood out,” he said. 

Officials went from campsite to campsite recommending that people leave. 

Muise said that no one was hurt or trapped. He said most people were sleeping at the time they arrived “but everybody seemed to be calm.”

He said officials were concerned about safety because the Debert River runs through the park. “It’s not the first time [flooding] happened there.”

He said they were concerned about the potential for RVs being swept away.

Parts of Nova Scotia were forecast to get heavy rains Saturday night. Environment Canada reported that most of the province’s mainland would see rainfall that could reach from 40 to 70 millimetres.

Muise said that people were told to to spend the rest of the night at a parking lot by a restaurant across the road. 

He said everything went smoothly and the water has gone back to normal. 

“A lot of people that were here for the weekend panicked and called 911, but we are used to it,” said Lucy Brine, the park manager.

She said that it was mostly people who were camping overnight who pulled out. Most of the park’s seasonal campers stayed.

“When the tide comes up, it comes in the field and then it goes back down again. I mean … it’s the weather,” she said.