Earl dumped close to 200 mm of rain on parts of the Avalon Peninsula including metro over the past day-and-a-half, leaving basements and roads flooded and vehicles stranded in knee-deep water.
Waterford Bridge Road in the area of Corpus Christies is closed because of a swollen Waterford River while the underpass below the Robert E. Howlett and Commonwealth Avenue has flooded out. Old Petty Harbour Road is washed out. Traffic heading into downtown St. John’s via Pitts Memorial Drive is being diverted into Kilbride due to water build-up.
A listener sent along this photo of the flooding on Robert E Howlett Memorial Drive this morning. Flooding is even more intense near the overpass. Flooding on parts of Pitts Memorial as well.
Avoid the both areas if possible. @590VOCM #nltraffic #nlwx pic.twitter.com/OB3yuSEnVJ— Gerri Lynn Mackey (@GerriLynnMackey) September 12, 2022
Rob Carroll, a meteorologist with the Gander Weather Office, says metro recorded 175 mm of rain up to 5:30 this morning.
Earl was stationary over the Grand Banks but it will begin moving again today with the heaviest rainfall finished by this afternoon.
The rain and high winds are being blamed for damage to the breakwater in Trepassey, which resulted in the lower coast being cut off from the rest of the town. An update on that situation is expected later this morning.
Some highways on the Avalon Peninsula have areas of heavy water buildup this morning due to the heavy rainfall.
Please reduce your speed and drive cautiously today. #nltraffic #nlwx pic.twitter.com/rIE6sPnDc0
— Transportation and Infrastructure NL (@TI_GovNL) September 12, 2022