The extent of damage on the southwest coast will become clearer today after an extended period of torrential rainfall in the area that flooded basements, washed out roads, and isolated communities.

During a briefing on the situation Wednesday afternoon, officials explained that it’s hard to give an assessment of the extent of the damage, or timelines to repair it as the situation was still developing.

Premier Andrew Furey noted, however, that the storm has been the latest challenge in a year unlike any other.

Furey likens this to a “biblical year” with floods, pandemics, hurricanes and cyber attacks. However, he says the province has gotten through worse and will get through this.

Meanwhile, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Elvis Loveless says they will begin repairs to the damaged roads as soon as conditions allow, but he does stress that this is not a “48 hour fix.”

He says because of the way the washouts have occurred, they will need to fix one area in order to get to the next one, and that it will be a lengthy process.