Canada battles historic rain in Nova Scotia region, four go missing

On July 22, a province wide state of emergency (SOE) was declared in Canada's Nova Scotia region in response to severe flooding across the province.

“This is a very serious event. This flooding has been fast and furious, and we are taking strong action to ensure Nova Scotians are protected,” said John Lohr, Minister responsible for the Emergency Management Office. “As the rain and flood risk continues, we need people to stay off the roads so that first responders and critical infrastructure partners can do their work to restore our roads and power and keep people safe.”

The state of emergency will remain in effect for the next two weeks, until August 5, provided no terminations or extensions by the government.

Four people went missing, including two kids, after intense thunderstorms brought record rain across a wide swath of Nova Scotia over the past two days in the city of Truro.

According to Bayers, two children went missing after the vehicle they were travelling in got stuck underwater. Thankfully, the three other occupants were able to escape safely.

Bayers described the two other missing individuals as a youth and a man. They are still unaccounted for after a separate vehicle submersion. Two other people in the vehicle were rescued.

The police are actively searching for all four missing people.

Multiple vehicles were submerged in the flood. Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokeswoman Cindy Bayers said two such submersions in West Hants north of Halifax have left two adults and two children unaccounted for as of Saturday morning.

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Since Friday afternoon, the Halifax region has been suffering from torrential downpours which have resulted in more than 200 millimeters of rain in some areas. The port city typically receives about 90-100 mm of rain during an average July.

On Saturday, Environment Canada reported that some areas may have received more than 300 mm in 24 hours. Heavy rainfall is extending along the province's southwestern shore to a point north of Halifax.

Widespread flooding has also been reported along the west and northwest of the Halifax region.

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