With the Canadian Hurricane Centre watching Hurricane Leslie, Saint John is preparing for more rain — even as it dries out from Thursday's record rainfall.

About 107.7 millimetres of rain fell in Saint John during Thursday's downpour and forecasters say the slow-moving storm Hurricane Leslie could arrive in Atlantic Canada early next week.

"It was pretty crazy, it was flooded in on one side where we couldn't get through with the cars or walk through it. This morning it receded quite a bit where there's just two or three inches across the road," said Dan Lefort, a Saint John resident.

Lefort wore his rubber boots for his walk to work Friday. Motorists also had to brace for wet roads and deep puddles.

Saint John has spent millions of dollars over the past three years to cut down on flooding in at-risk neighbourhoods.

But after the dry summer, water quickly pooled in trouble spots cutting off road access in some areas.

Kevin Price, a worker with the city, said Mother Nature can make things unpredictable, but the city tries to prepare as best it can.

"We, again, go back and check our system inlets and outlets to make sure they're clear of debris for the next storm to be ready," Price said.

"Basically there's has been some impacts on some people's basements from what I understand."

Kalin Mitchell, a CBC News meteorologist, said more storms will make flood risks worse.

"If we had seen two or three systems like this in a row then that ground would be at risk of becoming very, very saturated and that could lead into bigger flooding concerns," he said.

Mitchell said Hurricane Leslie could produce a lot of rain for the region if it comes close to Atlantic Canada.

Hurricane Leslie's track has shifted east and forecasters believe it will shift again before it nears Canadian waters early next week.