Call us for help before going home: fire chief

As floodwaters recede, Montreal’s mayor and fire chief have warned residents not to return home before calling for help.

“We urge people to call 311 to let us help them get back to their homes,” said Montreal fire chief Bruno Lachance. “There are still some risks: health risks, electrical risks, natural gas, and there could be structural problems.”

Lachance said firefighters are ready to inspect homes and give owners a step-by-step list of procedures to follow to make their houses safe again.

“We have inspectors on the ground right now; they are available,” Lachance said. “Just call us.”

Some streets were drying out on Friday, and some residents were going back to assess damage, but most whose homes were flooded expected it would be months before they could dry out their basements and complete repairs.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said the city is thinking about how it can give a break to some of the residents who are facing tax bills due next month. He said the city is considering whether it can offer them the opportunity to delay their property tax bills by at least a month.

“The law doesn’t allow us to give them a break,” Coderre said. “So we’ll see what we can do.”

Coderre and Lachance said the weather looks promising for the next few days, and they expect floodwaters to continue to recede through the weekend.

Coderre responded to criticism from residents who said the city seemed ill-prepared for the disaster, with few sandbags available on request. He suggested those expressing anger toward the city were merely blowing off steam.

“I understand their trauma,” Coderre said. “They need to ventilate. I was there, and (Pierrefonds–Roxboro Mayor) Jim Beis was there also.”

He said he’s proud of city crews who worked hard during the crisis.

“Everybody did a tremendous job,” he said. “It’s because of the work that the men and women did that we prevented the worst. We will do a post-mortem to see if there are ways to improve, but kudos to all the men and women who did a tremendous job.”

Coderre said 300,000 sandbags were passed out by the city during the crisis. Nearly 800 homes were visited, and 438 were flooded to some degree. The city gave updated numbers Friday that reveal more people left their homes than previously thought.