As floodwaters along the St. John River continue to rise to historic levels many people are turning out to lend a helping hand — including in the town of Grand Bay-Westfield where ‘Operation Sandbag’ is underway.
It’s now day four of the community-based effort where people are coming to pick up the sandbags if they can, and if they can’t, there’s a trucking operation going on to bring it to them and Bill Merrifield tells CHSJ News people have turned out by the hundreds and close to 7000 sandbags have been filled up.
— CHSJ News (@chsjnews) May 4, 2018
“Everybody from seniors, to people who have disabilities, to children, to whole classes. Cub Scouts, Air Cadets, Army Cadets,” says Merrifield.
Merrifield says as long as the floodwaters continue to rise, they’ll continue bagging sand.
“People are going to come home late in the day, thinking they were safe when they left in the morning and come home and say ‘oh my gosh, I’m not safe, I need help’ and that’s when the calls start to really roll in,” says Merrifield.
“So we’re stockpiling, we’re going through them pretty much as quickly as we can fill them at this stage of the game.”
Bill Merrifield says people have turned out by the hundreds to lend a helping hand to those fighting off floodwaters #NBFlood2018. pic.twitter.com/3YEHhG0ruc
— CHSJ News (@chsjnews) May 4, 2018
Brittany Merrifield also says if someone dealing with flooding in their house needs help moving their things, they can send people over.
To volunteer, you can call Bill at 650-7075.
There are many other places where sand is also available for public use:
UPDATED / MISE-A-JOUR
Sand and bag locations for public use / Sable et sacs disponible au grand public#NBflood pic.twitter.com/ctTQ4PbSwB
— NB-EMO / OMU-NB (@NBEMO_OMUNB) May 4, 2018
