Flood Details - 1989-04-06 - 1989-04-10

Upper and Middle Saint John River Basin: There were numerous ice jams in the Saint John River in April 1989, but no major floods occurred. On April 9, a large ice jam formed on the Saint John River between Riviére Verte and Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska. It was over 10 kilometres in length until April 12, then deteriorated steadily. It was completely eroded by April 16. A section of Route 109, along the Tobique River, was inundated at Wapske on April 7. Ice jams began to form in the Perth-Andover area on April 8, resulting in increased water levels. On April 9, the Perth-Andover water level reached an elevation of approximately 247.6 feet, but no significant flooding was reported to have occurred. On April 7 the river ice cover began to break up and move in the Hartland - Woodstock area, causing ice jams to develop between Simonds and Peel, and near Hartland. An ice jam developed at the bridge between Woodstock and Grafton which flooded about 50 metres of the Canadian Pacific Railway line at Newburg Junction with 0.1 m to 0.2 m of water from April 8 to the 10th. High water levels were reported at Hartland and Simonds, but no flooding resulted. Some flooding occurred near Cloverdale on the North Becaguimec River on April 7 when an ice jam lodged at the Adair covered bridge. Water and ice floes overflowed on to the road, making it impassable, but no serious damage occurred. The Meduxnekeag River was reported to be near flood stage on April 1. Nashwaak River Basin: Ice jams formed at Stanley and Nashwaak Bridge on April 6. The jam at Stanley caused no flooding, but moved downstream and merged with the jam at Nashwaak Bridge in the afternoon. The combined jam caused flooding of Route 107 for a short time, then released early on the morning of April 7. Further downstream, at Nashwaak Village, an ice jam caused flooding of Route 8 on the morning of April 7. The highway was closed for four hours until the jam released and water levels dropped. Petitcodiac River Basin: Minor flooding was reported in the Moncton area on April 7 as a result of unusually high tides. The flooding occurred in some low lying areas along the Petitcodiac River which are normally unaffected by the tides. The high tides occurred during a windstorm associated with an intense, low-pressure weather system.

Southeastern New Brunswick: High winds occurred throughout the day on April 7. Gusts were reported to exceed 100 kilometres per hour at the Moncton airport. A weather monitoring station at the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia border reported southwesterly winds, with one gust reaching a speed of 117 kilometres per hour. The strong winds were preceeded by unusually warm night-time temperatures of approximately 13 o Celsius.