Placentia damage more serious than first thought: mayor

Storm surge damage to the boardwalk in the Town of Placentia is more serious than originally thought. 

A surge on Wednesday night tossed large rocks and other debris along the area known as Beach Road. The two-kilometre boardwalk serves as both a recreational walkway and as a breakwater.

Mayor Wayne Power said a couple of sections of the boardwalk are completely destroyed. It is closed until further notice.

"A large portion of it has been pretty well destroyed and lifted up," said Power.

​"We've taken action now today to barricade the different entrances to that. Because, until we get to do a proper structural assessment on it, it's hard to say how safe it is."

The fire department, the RCMP and a public works crew spent the night monitoring what was a scary situation.

Power said they've never seen this kind of damage before — even during Hurricane Igor in 2010.

"We had the waves rolling in across Placentia beach, and proceeding on over our boardwalk area and onto the main highway. We have a lot of debris on the road right now," Power told CBC.  

Power said the number of people who went to the area to see the waves also made for a dangerous situation.

A wind warning for the region has since been lifted, but the town has asked people to stay away from the area for their own safety.

Power said about a half-dozen basements were also flooded during Wednesday night's wild weather.