New Brunswickers warned of flooding along rivers due to rain, ice jams

FREDERICTON – Public Safety officials in New Brunswick are warning of possible flooding as the result of warm temperatures and a forecast of up to 25 millimetres of rain Tuesday into Wednesday.

River Watch spokesman Richard Keeley said rising temperatures will lead to ice movement on the St. John River and other river systems across the province over the next two days.

“Don’t go fishing on the ice, don’t snowmobile on the ice, don’t ATV on the ice,” Keeley said.

“If you live in a flood-prone area or near a watercourse and you are fearful it may flood, by all means move your belongings to a higher level.”

Keeley said the Nashwaak River is expected to be more than a half-metre above flood stage on Tuesday.

Jams have been spotted on the Nashwaak River at MacLaggan Bridge, Tay Bridge, Durham Bridge and Marysville Bridge, but Keeley warned that if the ice starts moving, jams can occur anywhere at any time.

“If there are ice jams on the Nashwaak it would obviously play a part in how far up the floodwaters will attain,” Keeley said Monday.

River Watch was also reporting ice jams on the Southwest Miramichi River below the Doaktown Bridge and at Norrad’s Bridge in Upper Miramichi.

Lisa Munn, the recovery manager with the New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization, said communities along the rivers have been advised to be prepared.

Recent measurements showed the snowpack at 130 per cent of normal levels in northern areas of the province and 189 per cent of normal levels in southern areas, Keeley said.

He said the weather forecast is more favourable later in the week, with daytime temperatures expected to remain below 10 degrees Celsius in the day and below freezing at night, which helps slow the snow melt.