TWO OTHERS REMAIN MISSING IN B.C. INTERIOR
On Monday afternoon, Jacques Gagnon held out no hope they could have survived, and he wondered if they would ever be found. “We don’t know if they are still in the river or if they have gone out to sea,” he said.
The incident was a tragic reminder of the danger posed by swollen rivers as Quebec experiences what the provincial government is calling historic flooding.
More than 1,500 soldiers hit the ground Monday to help Quebecers deal with flooding that has caused widespread damage and evacuations. Heavy rains and melting snowpack have so far flooded 2,426 residences in the province, forcing the evacuation of 1,520 people in almost 150 municipalities.
Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux said water levels across the province were expected to peak between Monday and Wednesday.
“The water levels in the flooded areas should start going down Wednesday. It may start earlier in certain sectors. But these levels are very high … so patience is required,” Coiteux said. “But I know it’s hard.”
In Gatineau, Que., across the river from Ottawa, 380 residences were evacuated and some federal employees were advised not to go to work on Monday because of the flooding.
Some parts of eastern Ontario have also been hit hard, and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the federal government was responding to a request from the Ontario government for “additional flood mitigation resources.”
In Atlantic Canada, some parts of New Brunswick recorded more than 150 millimetres of rain after a nearly 36-hour, non-stop downpour. And while the deluge tapered off early Sunday, New Brunswick’s Saint John River had spilled its banks, forcing several road closures.
Meanwhile in British Columbia, two men remained missing as the province’s interior suffered heavy flooding.
About 30 police officers and firefighter were involved in the search for Gagnon and Daphnée Monday. Divers were also on the scene but could not enter the water because of low visibility.
“We have people watching at the mouth of the river, and along the shores on the seven-kilometre stretch,” Doiron said. In the town of 7,000 where ties are close, many volunteers have joined the effort, Sainte-Annedes-Monts Mayor Simon Deschênes said.
“People are along the shores of the St. Lawrence River and sections of the Sainte-Anne River that are not too dangerous to see if they can spot anything,” he said. “In a town this size, almost everyone knows each other,” he said.
Some evacuations in the region had begun early Sunday morning after the Sainte-Anne River rose rapidly overnight. Doiron said the investigation would reveal whether the road on which the family got trapped had been closed.
He said they had been driving to reach friends on an ATV who were stuck in the forest. The friends managed to get out unscathed, he said.
Gagnon described his son, who worked fishing for shrimp and groundfish, as having “a big heart.” Daphnée was not his daughter, but he had three children of his own aged between two and 15. “He loved his children,” he said.
He had been expecting his son for Sunday dinner after he fetched his friends from the bush. “We waited for a long time, then it was the mother of his girlfriend who called. She was at the hospital. That’s when we knew what had happened,” he said. National Post, with files from The Canadian Press ghamilton@postmedia.com Twitter.com/grayhamilton