Tropical storm Cristobal was winding its way toward the Atlantic Wednesday after dumping a month's worth of rain on Nova Scotia in the span of a few hours.

Many Nova Scotians, especially those in the southwestern part of the province, were facing major clean-ups Wednesday. The storm dumped up to 60 millimetres of rain in the Halifax area. Some regions saw as much as 160 millimetres of rain.

The community of Sambro, 20 kilometres southwest of Halifax, was one of the hardest hit areas, receiving an estimated 120 millimetres of rain in just three hours. The town's culvert and drainage system couldn't handle the flow - something residents say has never happened before.

"I've been here for 7 years, seen lots of storms, including Hurricane Juan, which dumped an incredible amount of wind and rain on us, and the road here has never been covered in with water," one resident told CTV Atlantic.

Michelle Raymond, the MLA for the area, said she is urging the province's Department of Transportation to examine the size of culverts in the area.

"One common denominator seems to be culverts that aren't big enough to accommodate the flow of water that hit last night," Raymond told CTV Atlantic.

Transportation work crews will dig up the road on Thursday to fix the underground washout. But they won't be replacing the culvert, which worries resident Nancy Fahie.

"It's going to happen again. That's not the end of it, just because of one little rainstorm. It will come again. Why bother to fix my house if it's going to happen again?" Fahie told CTV Atlantic.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Bob Robichaud told CTV.ca the storm was about 200 kilometres south of Cape Race, N.L., Wednesday afternoon. Robichaud said it was expected to stay off land, but residents in the region would likely see some rain.

"There isn't much left to Cristobal (on land)," he said.

"It still is expected to track towards the east for the next (few) hours, but it will be way out into the ocean by this evening."

Robichaud said winds at the centre of the storm remain strong and are still maintaining speeds of about 70 kilometres per hour. But the storm is not likely to hit land as it makes its way across the Atlantic before dissipating.

CTV Atlantic meteorologist Cindy Day noted the storm brought a lot of rain with it when it crossed Nova Scotia, but there wasn't much wind. It swept through the province Tuesday night, leaving some minor damage.

"There was some localized flooding right along the coast of the province," Day said.

In the southern part of the province, Baccaro Point alone received 165 millimetres of rain between Monday evening and Tuesday afternoon. The area usually receives 100 millimetres for all of July.

With a report from CTV Atlantic's Lane Farguson in Sambo, N.S.