Charlotte County floods deserve study too, says MLA

People in Charlotte County are upset the provincial government plans to study the cause of a recent flood in Perth-Andover, but still hasnt looked into what caused flooding in their community in 2010.

Rick Doucet, LiberalMLA for Charlotte-The Isles, says his constituents feel like "second-class citizens."

Part of his riding was devastated by the December floods of 2010 and residents have been asking for a flood study for their area ever since, he said.

"This is something that we asked out of the Magaguadavic watershed from the Lake Utopia preservation association. They asked me to present a petition to ask for the same thing - the exact same thing," said Doucet.

"They wanted a third-party review of the Magaguadavic watershed - how can we prevent this in the future? That's all there is to it. So they're asking me, 'How come we're being treated like second-class citizens? Why can't we have the same review?'"

Earlier this week, the governmentannounced plans to studythe cause of the record flood that hit Perth-Andover last month and look for ways to prevent future flooding.

A working group will investigate what, if anything, can be done to the river to prevent future floods, what can be done to protect the village and surrounding areas, and what can be done to protect individual properties, said Local Government Minister Bruce Fitch.

The record flood caused the village of 1,770 people to evacuate about one-third of the community on March 23. Thewater level was roughly 1.5 metres above stage.

In 2010, many communities along stretches of southern and western New Brunswick saw extensive damage to roads, bridges and houses, with Charlotte County the hardest-hit, according to the Emergency Measures Organization.

At the time, Premier DavidAlward described the damageas "beyond imagination."

Doucet said hes been hearing from constituents who are dealing with flooding again this week after heavy rains.

"I received an email from a guy who was just completely exhausted. He said, I'm going to bed. I just can't watch it anymore. And here's someone who lost everything last year," said Doucet.

"The part we should be thankful for is that the rain has stopped. We've got some good weather so the water should start to drain down, but the main point is people are really upset with the dam facilities in St. George."