Volunteers needed, not ‘flood tourists’

Officials are reminding “flood tourists” to stay away unless they plan to help.

People snapping pictures and gawking can interfere with emergency vehicles and may put themselves in danger, officials say.

Ottawa Coun. Eli El-Chantiry said he had to call police to Constance Bay on Saturday to turn away drivers who didn’t live in the area.

There was so much traffic on roads leading to the swollen Ottawa River that emergency vehicles and trucks making sandbag deliveries had difficulty getting through, he said. “These folks were coming to take pictures, to take a look at the flood ... they were curious. They were overrunning the roads.

“Saturday afternoon, it was getting a little out of control.”

Excess traffic no longer appears to be a problem there, El-Chantiry said Tuesday.

Some roads in Constance Bay near the river have been blocked or restricted to local traffic.

Signs have been erected warning of the restrictions, and police are on patrol, he said. People also seem to be getting the message to stay away, said El-Chantiry.

Municipal officials in Gatineau have also warned residents to avoid driving around the city unnecessarily, to follow signs, drive slowly to avoid creating waves and to consult the map of street closures before heading out.

Constance Bay resident Jennie Joly said Bayview Drive along the river was jammed with cars

These folks were coming to take pictures, to take a look at the flood ... they were curious. They were overrunning the roads.

on Saturday. “It was quite a sight. I suspect a lot of people were just there looking.”

She said she understands, because the flood was a spectacle and she was taking photographs herself. But roads were clogged, she said. By Saturday afternoon, police were directing traffic and turning away drivers who didn’t live in the area.

Joly was racing between her flooded home on Baillie Avenue, bordering the river, and her parents’ house on Bayview Drive, where she and her two children are staying temporarily.

Her partner, André Joly, has remained at the house on Baillie, desperately trying to keep the water in the basement from rising above a couple of inches. Sump pumps and shop vacuums have been running day and night since Friday.

He estimates he has pumped out 200,000 gallons of water since Friday. “That’s roughly the volume of a hot-air balloon.”

Jennie Joly’s parents have two houses on Bayview.

The other one is under water. “You’d have to use hip waders to get to the front door,” she said.

El-Chantiry praised all the volunteers who drove to Constance Bay to help out. More will be needed in the tough weeks ahead for the recovery, he said.