Walkers in Calgary faced waist-high water as the flooded NS park was evacuated

A Calgary couple say they are still drying out after being evacuated from a Nova Scotia park this week.

Carala and Terence Jellema are experienced backcountry hikers who said they visited Cape Chignecto Provincial Park for the first time this week. They had planned a five-day trek and started on Sunday.

The couple said they pushed through waist high water, fast-flowing rivers and blockades on Monday on their way to the cabin they rented.

“We were up to our thighs,” said Carala Jellema in an interview on Wednesday. “At that point everything let go and you basically just felt the water pouring right into your boots and you were like, ‘Okay, we’re wet now.'”

It wasn’t until they were mobile again along the trail that they heard the park was being closed off and evacuated.

The Jemellas called the park staff and said they were told if they could go to their cabin they would have to stay there overnight and be picked up in the morning.

The couple said they didn’t have a tent with them, so they knew they had to take shelter. Once they got to the cabin, they began to think that maybe this wasn’t typical weather for Nova Scotia.

“It was like ‘Oh wow, okay, this could get a lot worse,'” said Terence Jellema. “To the point where, holy smoke, they’re actually moving people out of here. Then it was kind of like, ‘Okay, this might be more serious than we realized.'”

They were rescued the next morning by park personnel who drove a pickup truck down an old logging road in the area and managed to reach the couple.

Park closed for review

Cape Chignecto Provincial Park is closed as staff assess trails and infrastructure, a Parks Nova Scotia spokesperson said.

“This is, I think, an event that has not been seen in that park before,” said Sandra Johnstone.

She said she doesn’t know how much rain has fallen in the park in the past two weeks, but nearly 80 millimeters fell on Monday alone.

The assessments will ensure that trails are still accessible and that it is safe for visitors to be in the park, Johnstone said. She said the plan is to reopen the park Thursday morning, but public safety is a priority.

‘We come back’

The Jemellas said they were disappointed that their visit to Cape Chignecto was cut short after planning the trip for over a year.

They can smile about their experience now, they said, laughing that their boots were still wet days later as they continued to look around Nova Scotia.

But they know they’ll leave somewhat unfulfilled after being forced to finish their hike early.

“We’ll be back to finish it,” said Terence Jellema.