'IT'S A REAL CALAMITY': IN PONTIAC, STRANGERS COME TOGETHER TO HELP

Pontiac’s community centre has become a one-stop shop for sandbags, food and support as the area becomes a key focus for soldiers helping to evacuate the parts of the Outaouais hammered by flooding.

As she laid out trays of buns and vegetables on Sunday, Joan Belsher estimated volunteers have given 20 large pots of homemade soup.

“It’s enough to feed an army — or at least the soldiers we have visiting.”

Outside, soldiers and volunteers loaded sandbags in the dirt parking lot. Strangers pulled off Highway 148 to help, including Audrey Bond and her 13-year-old daughter, Lillian.

“In society, there’s a lot of aggression, a lot of us-and-them, especially in politics,” said Bond, who lives in Aylmer. “This has restored my faith in humanity.”

Lillian said her Sunday rowing club had cancelled — due to high water — but she was happy to volunteer. “When you help others, you feel better yourself,” she said.

Pam Komm, 82, who has lived her whole life in the Pontiac area but was told to leave Sunday morning, brought her birth certificate, grandparents’ bible and photo albums with her when she left.

“We always had high water. Once we took a boat to my house. But you could live there. Now, it’s a disaster,” she said moments after evacuating her home.

“I left my closets; I don’t know what I’m going to wear,” she said, holding a doughnut and a coffee.

“But I have my children. I’m staying at my granddaughter’s house. I’m fine. I’m not going to cry.”

Moments later, Pontiac Mayor Roger Larose recognized Komm and gave her a hug. She started sobbing.

“It’s so hard,” she confided. “We’ll be all right, right?”

At another table, Kevin Brady ate a bowl of chili after spending the morning ushering boats and trucks full of sandbags to houses straddling the flood zone.

He said that many of the houses looked like they’d be engulfed within hours.

“Many are clinging to their last hope,” he said.

Brady lost a barn in a small tornado years ago, and felt obliged to help people this weekend.

“It’s a real calamity, it’s a tragedy. These people have lost everything,” he said. “We all need to help our neighbours.”