Water levels down in Quebec but heavy rain in forecast
While water levels continued their slow decline in some parts of Quebec on Wednesday, the province’s environment minister warned the situation could deteriorate this weekend because of heavy rain.
David Heurtel said the central Quebec region of Mauricie is expected to bear the brunt of the precipitation.
“We’re looking at considerable rainfall on the weekend,” he told a news conference.
“Depending on the region, we’re talking about 20 to 40 millimetres but in Mauricie the impact will be even greater, so we should expect another tough weekend there.”
Heurtel said the combination of rain, melting snow in the St-Maurice River basin and rising tides could prove to be damaging in the region.
Trois-Rivieres resident Patrice Bourassa, who has been co-ordinating volunteer efforts in Mauricie, said citizens in some of the worst-hit regions are losing energy and patience.
“It’s reached the point they have to leave their homes in the morning and take a canoe to their vehicle 500 metres away because it’s too flooded,” he said in a telephone interview.
Bourassa said the Facebook page he created has already drawn 1,200 members, with many spending the last few days building dikes, packing sandbags and helping citizens.
He says that while city officials have offered all the help they can, some of the smaller towns in the region have fewer resources to deal with flooding.
Levels are expected to remain stable in flooded areas in the Greater Montreal area, where Heurtel credited the management of water flow from the Ottawa River and Great Lakes basins with preventing the situation from getting worse.
Weekend rain isn’t expected to cause a spike in Montrealarea water levels, Heurtel said.
“The flow will continue decreasing and ultimately the rains that are going to come are going to slow down the decrease,” Heurtel said.
“We’re not looking at the rainfall rising the levels. It’s going to slow down the decrease or it’s going to be maintained at the same levels.”
Meanwhile, Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux told the same news conference that 3,882 residences in the province have now been affected by the floods.