At the river's edge
Coping Residents, and even cattle, find many ways to get by
FREDERICTON - Nellie Schuttenbeld's whole world is under water.
One of two barns on her Maugerville dairy farm is flooded, and the water could go higher.
With a touch of a Dutch accent she explains the day's most pressing problem: evacuating 65 milking cows and an additional 50 young cattle.
Outside, her husband and son struggle to move the frightened animals by barge to higher ground.
Highly-stressed dairy cows, it turns out, are not always cooperative.
"It's not a fun day, but there are more fun days coming," she said. "We have to make the best of it. We are healthy, so we can't complain."
Such is life when you live on the flood-prone St. John River.
But for Schuttenbeld, and countless other New Brunswickers now in the throes of heavy flooding, high water is an accepted risk when living near the river's edge.
"We love it here," she said. "Our neighbors are nice, we love the river - we have everything.
"It will get better again. If you're healthy you have it all. The flood we can deal with."
Schuttenbeld and her husband, Harri, left Holland for Canada in 1956. They settled and married in Maugerville and built their farm up from nothing.
Now in their 70s, the couple has largely turned the operation over to their 42-year-old son, John. But on busy days like this one, the two still lend a hand.
While tough, she says, the situation has not eclipsed the great flood of 1973.
"It's not nice, but when it's all over we'll say, 'It was not so bad,'" she said.
"It's not every year. It's just bad today and tomorrow.
"We live in a wonderful country. We are quite lucky I think."
Down river in the village of Gagetown, Gerry Webb has a similar outlook. Maybe that's because water is his business.
Webb and his wife, Nancy, run the local marina and watering hole, the Old Boot Pub.
The couple returned to their native New Brunswick from Calgary in 2002. They bought a nearby house and retired. But that didn't last long.
One of the main reasons? The river.
"This is one of the most beautiful rivers in the world. It's a great place to live," Webb said.
"You just have to put up with a couple of weeks of flooding. Right now I'm not sure it's worth it. But wait until June when the boats are in the water and the sun is out, then I'm sure we'll find it worth it."
The couple learned much from the large flood of 2005. This year the gas tanks were moved across the street and the floating docks stacked in a nearby parking, chained to a tree.
"You've got to just let the water come," he said, as a dozen or so patrons enjoyed drinks outside - content to watch the water rise.
"All you can do is mitigate the damage, because the water is going to come and there is going to be damage."
David O'Brien has also learned to accept the river's ebb and flow.
"If you want to live near the water you have to expect the water to occasionally do what you don't want it to do," said O'Brien from his Sheffield home.
"Nature is going to do what nature does best."
On this day O'Brien's house and garage are still dry, though many around him have evacuated or are dealing with swamped basements.
This is O'Brien's third flood since he bought his patch of property in 1993. It is only separated from the river by the highway and a small piece of land.
Now a potential danger, the river usually holds great appeal for O'Brien and his wife, Marilyn. It's where they enjoy time on their power cruiser in the summer.
"You have to accept the fact that this is going to happen from time to time, you just hope it doesn't destroy everything you own," said the former president of the legislative press gallery in Fredericton.
For O'Brien, that concern centres on his antique 1964 Thunderbird Roadster. Only about 40 were built, so he doesn't want to see it under a metre of water.
"You do what you can to prepare for it," he said. "But I hope it doesn't happen for another 100 years."
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