Landslide damages Grand Falls store; no injuries reported

Landslide damages Grand Falls store; no injuries reported

Mayor warns more buildings face erosion threats

A landslide damaged a community store in Grand Falls, N.B., on Sunday, but caused no injuries.

The Municipality of Grand Falls posted a social media update urging residents to avoid the Tobique Street area near Toner's Community Foodstore.

Mayor Bertrand Beaulieu said an embankment behind the store eroded into Falls Brook, causing about a third of the building to shift and sink several feet.

The landslide did not affect any other nearby buildings.

Beaulieu said heavy rain earlier this week likely triggered the slide, though officials will determine the cause in the coming days.

Although firefighters set up barricades around the store, bystanders saw people moving boxes from the building into a truck on Sunday afternoon.

Eric Gagnon, the municipality’s director general, told Radio-Canada that the owner was salvaging what they could. While the municipality advised them to leave for their own safety, Gagnon said the municipality can't force a closure.

The store operates year-round, even on holidays, and Beaulieu described it as a long-standing community icon.

"It's astonishing to see our community store going down the hill," Beaulieu said. "It's very sad to see."

Erosion threatens several other areas in Grand Falls, including a local pumping station and manholes along the St. John River.

Soil instability has already forced the demolition of several houses. Beaulieu emphasized that the municipality must collaborate with provincial and federal governments to find solutions to the problem.