New Brunswick family raised their home, but flood waters still lap at their door

Jan Seely and her husband thought they were prepared for flooding when they raised their house up higher on their land in 2008, but record-breaking flooding this year and last year in New Brunswick has shown they didn't do enough.

Forecasts for southern New Brunswick are calling for the floodwaters to slowly recede in most areas, but communities along the St. John River from Fredericton to Saint John remain above flood stage.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said Monday the military will stay in the province as long as is needed to help residents until the water levels recede.

Seely lives in Kingston Peninsula, next to the St. John River Basin. She spoke with Cross Country Checkup host Duncan McCue on Sunday. 

Here is part of their conversation.

How are things in your neck of the woods in New Brunswick?

Well, we're starting to have a little stress relief. The last day or so the waters are starting to recede a bit.

We live in a small community; we rely heavily on ferries. We have three ferries that people take depending on which part of the peninsula you live on.

So over the last six days or so, we've been reduced to one ferry, which has taken a normal 20-kilometre trek [and] turned it into about an 80-kilometre trek for me.

Describe the situation around your home.

I live right on the river. I'm looking at Reversing Falls, pretty close to that. We're in the lower river basins. 

And we have our neighbours — we're all on the waterfront, and these homes have been here for years.

My husband and I had a camp here, and we tore the camp down, and raised the home in 2008 — raised the whole property because we wanted to invest and put our new home here. So we want to make sure we were safe. But obviously we didn't go high enough.

Our house sits right now with water completely underneath it. But it's not in our living room. My main living space downstairs is just an open basement area.

We have a garage door so we lift that up in April when the water starts to rise, and then the water comes in, the water goes out. But normally it's just a few inches. But these last couple of years we've been within 10 inches of our living room floor. So it's been a little hairy.

So you'd already done the work of raising the home. But obviously things have changed since 2008?

Yes, drastically.

Actually last year our house was an island. It was completely around, and our road was closed off — and it's a big concern here with the road closures. We've had some voluntary evacuations, my neighbours and such, but you know, they are also in the midst of trying to fill generators and empty their basements and keep their homes from getting damaged further.

So it's pretty hard to just walk away from that and trust that, you know, government programs are going to be there for you when you want to fix your home and come back to it.

There's small things that the province could do in communities to make a huge difference.

What kind of small things?

There's roads that are four feet underwater, that aren't safe to pass, but they've flooded two years in a row now. So let's get some planning in place in the summer and let's raise these roads so that when it does happen again people don't have to drive an hour and a half to get to work ... and we're cut off from the hospital access. You know, it's a long ways away.

My husband I purchased a defibrillator a couple of years ago because, you know, we've had some emergencies in our family.

I walked around the other day and told my neighbours: "You know, I've got a defibrillator at the house if something happens."

My boat's in the yard, I can see the hospital from here, but it would take a good hour and a half for somebody to get me there, if I didn't go by boat or I didn't have a defibrillator if I needed it.

What's it like for you, Jan, when you hear people say "What are they doing still there?" or "Why did they build there in the first place?"

Well for us, we've never had any damage. I know it sounds crazy to think that underneath your floorboards there's the Saint John River, but it comes in, and it goes out, and it doesn't hurt anything because we don't use that space. It's just for a kayak in the summer.

For people along the road here that have had damage, you know, nobody expected the climate to change like it has.

I would like there to be an honest conversation about what's causing this.

I really think government needs to be honest and transparent.

I think if they're going to develop any strategy to try and address these tragedies that happen and the damage that people endure and the huge cost that the province has to endure, I think they need to really consult with the people that are experiencing it.

We're so good at dealing with [a] crisis when it happens, but we don't plan for anything. And I think that needs to happen.

With files from CBC News.