Body found after youth swept away in flood

Tail end of hurricane brought torrential downpours that damaged infrastructure in parts of province

- MICHAEL TUTTON

A young person died after being swept away by floodwaters in western Nova Scotia Thursday, compounding grief in a region still recovering from flooding a year ago that killed four people and caused extensive damage.

At a sombre news conference in Wolfville, N.S., Friday, the town where the young person died, Premier Tim Houston said the heavy rains and flooding had caused "tremendous infrastructure damage" throughout the Annapolis Valley.

"That will be rebuilt," Houston told reporters. "But none of that will replace this loss of a young life."

From floods, to wildfires, to massive snowstorms, Nova Scotia has been dealing with ever-increasing episodes of extreme, damaging and fatal weather events, Houston acknowledged. "We're experiencing a lot of trauma as a province."

The tail end of Hurricane Beryl brought "several hours of torrential downpours" to parts of western and central Nova Scotia on Thursday, wreaking havoc on an area stretching from Digby to Guysborough, Environment Canada said. More than 100 millimetres of rain fell in just a few hours in some communities, including Wolfville.