New Brunswick floods shut down 53 roads in province

If you were looking for a sign of spring in New Brunswick, look no further than the nearest flooded road.

Across the province, 53 roads are closed - either entirely, or only to truck traffic.

• Perth-Andover set to question NB Power on flood problems

• St. John River reaches flood stage in Fredericton, Jemseg

• Perth-Andover under evacuation order due to flooding risk

On the Gagetown Ferry road in Jemseg, the water has made it all the wayacross, burying the centreline.

It is the same story just below the Burton bridge, on the old highway that clings to the river. Ditto for McGowan'sCorner.

Spring weather and flooding is certainly taking its toll.

Cattle at risk

Beef farmer Henry Knight appears stoic under the circumstances. At least so far.

"It'll gradually cover my whole driveway and then I'll have to travel on the field to get to my house," he said Thursday.

"If it gets to the point where some of my yards flood, I have to move some of the cattle up the road here, I've got another property up the road that I can move them to if I have to."

Knight recalls helping move cattle from other farms out of high water in 2008.

Water levels then reached 8.6 metres. Much higher than the 6.8 metres expected this weekend in the Fredericton area.

Could be worse

Wayne Tallon, Fredericton's director of public safety, says conditions could be worse.

The northern part of the province did not receive as much snow as we did," he said.

"Therefore, there's not as much snowpack, and not as much water equivalent in that snow, so that is why we are not getting the big influences like we normally do."

TheMactaquacDam gates are open to the fast- moving St.John River, carrying branches and detritus from upriver.

So the safest place to be is still high above the swollen rivers.

The New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization continues to warn people to stay off the river.