Trout River recovering after flooding, school to reopen on Monday

Theflood waters are receding and Trout River is putting its town back together again.

The town looked like a construction site on Friday, as truck after truck laid gravel to rebuild riverbanks and replace land that had washed away in last weekend's flood.

Crews worked diligently to save one of Trout River's most important buildings JakemanAll Grade school.

"We got to the point within inches of the school gymnasium here being undermined by the flood waters," said town Councillor Marsha Crocker. "Now you have crews working around the clockand a new embankment."

The school was at risk of being destroyed. Now, after being closed all week, it is set to reopenMonday morning.

The town was hit hard by landslides and flooding after last weekend's rain and warm temperatures. Trout Riverwas among a long list of towns affected on Newfoundland's west coast.

While the waters have receded a bit, the river was still rushing hard on Friday and crews were still working to secure the main bridge across the river.

They haven't stopped filling in land and securing the bridge since the flooding began.

"There is a strong feeling of cooperation through this whole process," Crocker said. "We have seen people helping out anyway they can."

Mayor Horace Crocker said many of the townspeople still have issues with flooding in their homes and sewage issues. They have a long road ahead of them and plenty of repairs to do in the spring.

But the worst of it is over.

"Today, people are more relieved than they have in the past week," he said."Water level is going down, equipment is onsite and we are making repairs where we can. All in all, it's settling down."

The state of emergency in Trout River has been lifted, but the town is still keeping an eye on a couple of areas, including a house sitting below a hill of uneven ground.

The homeowners have been evacuated as a precaution.