Flood Details - 2012-03-23 - 2012-03-25

A "March heat wave" sparked an unusually early spring thaw, resulting in ice jam activity along the St. John River waterways throughout western and northern New Brunswick. Mild temperatures continued from 21-24 March. On 21st March, temperatures were 18-20 degrees above the normal highs and lows. This caused ice break-up and movement all along the upper Saint John River between Big Rapids to Verret (above Edmundston). On 22nd March, temperatures were 20-23 degrees above the normal high and 9-12 degrees above the normal low. On 23rd March, Perth-Andover exceeded local flood stage by 26 cm. The Village of Perth-Andover declared a state of emergency and issued a mandatory evacuation order to roughly 500 people living in low-lying areas close to the St.John River, and 53 residents were evacuated from nearby Tobique First Nation. About 150 properties had significant damage. Dozens of homes were contaminated from fuel tanks that were uprooted by flood waters, and much public infrastructure was damaged. The medicine clinic in the Hotel-Dieu St. Joseph Hospital in Perth-Andover was flooded by more than a metre of water. Hospital patients were transferred to the Upper River Valley Hospital in Waterville, the Grand Falls General Hospital, and some discharged home. The Andover Elementary School and Southern Victoria High School were both damaged by flood waters. The Perth-Andover Middle School was used by the Red Cross as an emergency evacuation site. Many businesses on the Main Street suffered damage. Several roads in western New Brunswick were closed in the areas of Woodstock, Hartland, Perth-Andover, and Plaster Rock. There were also road closures in Durham Bridge, Sunny Corner, and Bathurst. A kilometre south of Hartland Route 105 was closed between Route 575 and Rideout Road. Route 105 was closed between Village of Perth's limits and Muniac Road. Route 390 was flooded and closed between Wapske and Plaster Rock. McLean Flat Road remainded closed in the Durham Bridge area on the Nashwaak River. The flood surprised many residents when the water levels started rising quickly. "It's not the flood of the century, it's greater than that," said Francis McCarthy, a resident of Perth Andover (24th March, Telegraph Journal).

In Perth-Andover and Tobique First Nations, flooding was caused by ice jams and water movement along the St. John River from rapid melting caused by above-average temperatures from 24-25 March.

Perth Andover had floods in 1976, 1987, 1993, 1994, and 2008. The flood levels were 78.20 m in 1976; 79.30 m in 1987; 78.70 m in 1993; 77.25 m in 1994, and 78.29 m in 2008. This was the sixth flood in Perth-Andover in recent years. Perth-Andover's maximum flood level in 2012 was 80.24 metres.

The flood waters damaged many homes, businesses, and public infrastructure. 225 property owners reported damages. A flood mitigation plan was released on 2nd Oct, 2012 by the Department of Environment and Local Government. The plan included a relocation and flood-proofing program for the Perth-Andover and Tobique First Nation. These measures come in addition to the nearly 200 claims for disaster financial assistance totalling $5-million the provincial government processed and paid out in the weeks following the flood. Damage estimates from the record flood were estimated at $25 million. The flood mitigation plan included: $1.66 m for infrastructure improvements; $8-million for a relocation and flood-proofing program for homes most significantly impacted by flood; $1.45 million to stabilize the north bank of the Tobique River and the east bank of the St. John River to reduce future erosion and increase the stability of homes located on the banks; and $450,000 to enhance monitoring, modelling, and forecasting capacity to provide real-time flow and water level monitoring; and risk assessments of ice break-up, movement and ice jam formation.