West Island, Laval brace for more wet weather hardship
With more rain forecast over night Thursday into Friday, Quebec communities already hard-hit by flooding are bracing for more hardship in the coming days.
As of Thursday at 8 p.m., the Quebec government reported that more than 700 people had been evacuated from their homes, 1,326 residences flooded and more than 300 roads closed.
A total of 124 cities and municipalities have been affected by the flooding, with some of the most hard-hit in Montreal’s West Island suburbs.
Any hope of a break in the wet weather was dashed Thursday evening when Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for Montreal, Laval, Châteauguay, and Longueuil warning “that a low-pressure system in the Great Lakes was headed their way and expected to dump up to 30 millimetres of rain over the next three days.”
The statement also warns that “higher levels of precipitation could be recorded in the Outaouais region, where high water levels have already caused flooding downstream.”
That will come as bitterly depressing news for residents in Île-Bizard-Ste-Geneviève, and Pierrefonds-Roxboro, who’ve felt the swift hand of Mother Nature bring river water into their homes and submerge their streets. Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue also has reported 100 residences flooded.
Alain Roberge, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said 15 to 25 millimetres of rain is expected to fall in Montreal over the next two days. “Maybe even 30 millimetres,” he said. “It will taper off after that on Saturday.”
But Roberge conceded that more rain is on its way next week.
The weather predictions are being taken to heart by civil protection authorities in Laval, who are warning residents in at-risk areas to take flood-protection measures or maintain those already in place and that this weekend’s flooding conditions may be worse than those experienced last month.
Flooding has already been reported in the Laval neighbourhoods of Laval-Ouest, Fabreville, Laval-sur-le-lac, Îles Laval and Ste-Dorothée.
Residents living along the riverfront are being advised to remove any objects that might be carried away by sudden flooding, including their boats.
Meanwhile, motorists in those areas are being asked to go slow on flooded streets, as the waves created by their vehicles add to the level of water approaching homes in the area.
In Montreal, where city officials ordered the evacuation of Île Mercier near Île-Bizard on Wednesday, the boroughs of Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Pierrefonds-Roxboro, L’île-Bizard–Ste-Geneviève and Senneville were reporting that sandbag dams were holding, but that water levels were continuing to rise at all points.
City of Montreal spokesperson Philippe Sabourin said Thursday morning that while local water levels were rising slightly, overall those levels had remained stable — at least for the moment.
“We’re making sure we have enough sandbags, that our firefighters and police are deployed and ready to work with the boroughs and follow the situation from hour to hour,” he said.
Firefighters caution residents not to run generators for pumps inside the house for fear of carbon monoxide poisoning, and to call 911 if the water has risen to the level of the electrical box.
Given that many residents in affected areas may be trying to keep basement flooding to a minimum by using sump pumps, the city has also posted a link to a web page providing tips on how to safely use the equipment, as well as a Quebec government web page explaining what compensation might be available for those who suffer flood damage.