Hoyt flood leaves family homeless after basement collapses

A mother of four in Hoyt, N.B., says she's lucky to be alive after flash flooding from Wednesday's storm crushed her home's foundation moments after she was in the basement.

Amy Gow says she entered the basement to shut of the building's power just moments before part of the foundation collapsed.

"By the time I got to the basement the water was up to my waist," she said. "About three minutes later the whole basement wall collapsed."

Gow says the water from the nearby stream is normally calm and peaceful, but during the storm it rose out of its banks and made her fear for her children's lives.

Weathered flood in boat

"There was water lapping up around the house," said Gow.

"At that point all I could think about was getting the kids out safely. So I called 911 the firefighters swam in with ropes. And we were waiting on a boatwhen the culvert collapsed and all the flood water receded in about three minutes."

The culvert that let go, displacing the water from Gow's home, destroyed part of Route 101 and left part of the community cut off for two days.

Shortly after the culvert let go by Gow's home, a nearby SUV plummeted almost eight metres in the washed out area. The driver, Patrick Morrison,survived the crash, which ended with the vehicle landing on its roof.

"I've never seen anything like that night," said Gow. "It was terrifying."

Home 'unlivable'

The owner of the home whereGow lived, Michael Harnish, says the province's Emergency Measures Organization will not allow anyone inside what is left of the home.

"It's unlivable," he said. "They've ordered us to stay out."

Harish isn't sure if insurance or government assistance will help with the damage.

"It's a wait and see," he said. "They told me it will probably be two weeks before I hear anything."

Gow says she's now staying with a friend for the time being.

"Unfortunately we can't recover anything from the house," said Gow. "So we've basically got to start all over again."

Gow met with the Red Cross Saturday morning. The organizationwill be assisting her and her four children while they try to find a new place to live.