Homeowner’s video shows waves crashing into New Brunswick sunroom

GRAND LAKE, N.B. — Dawn Burke returned to her Grand Lake, N.B., home to grab extra clothes for her kids on Friday night, after days of staying with a nearby friend. She found waves crashing through her sunroom, and shaking the house’s foundation.

She moved quickly to rescue her “memory books” — photo albums stored in the sunroom that was filling with water — and then took a video to preserve the memory of this year’s record-breaking New Brunswick floods.

When her daughter returned from university a few days later, she declared: “Mom, you’re trending!”

The startling images Burke uploaded have now been viewed more than 20,000 times, with people from as far as Australia and Haiti reaching out expressing sympathy and prayers.

“I was teasing with my six kids saying, ‘I’m famous, your mom’s famous!’” Burke recalled Wednesday. “I’m waiting for Ellen to call.”

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The outpouring of support from neighbours, friends, and strangers far and wide has been “heartwarming” in the wake of the floods that have evacuated more than 1,000 people from their homes in central New Brunswick, she said.

“We just feel like we’re being uplifted in prayer,” Burke said. “We’re going to keep our priorities straight, you have to. And that’s that we’re all safe.”

Grand Lake has been particularly hard-hit in this year’s floods, with some homes completely washed away. Burke has lived there for eight years, and says this is the first time her house has flooded.

Water levels are now receding, but Burke is waiting for the property to be formally assessed before she knows the extent of the damage, or when her family can return home.

Until then, she’s staying with a friend, and helping others in the community sandbag their homes and salvage their belongings.

Burke says several people have offered their homes, meals, and moral support. Friends are housing the family’s cats and chickens after the chicken coop washed away. One cat has yet to be accounted for, but the family is hopeful that Midnight will be back after things settle down.

Once the property is assessed, the next step will be figuring out how to guard against future damages.

“We have to decide how are we going to prevent this from happening again,” said Burke. “This our permanent home, we don’t want to be in the same place in two more years, five years, 10 years.”

— By Holly McKenzie Sutter in St. John’s, N.L.

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On the web: https://www.facebook.com/dawn.burke.39904/videos/10155348591881932/

The Canadian Press