Quebec at risk of major flooding
Warm temperatures, melting snow will bring rising waters
MONTREAL — Some 800 Canadian military personnel have fanned out across Quebec, filling sandbags and aiding evacuations as officials warn that warming temperatures and melting snow will bring rising flood waters this week.
Urgence Québec said Monday that six major floods were threatening Quebecers, with 2,389 residences across the province flooded and more than 1,500 people forced from their homes.
“There will doubtless be more flooding to come,” Quebec Public Security Minister Geneviève Guilbault told reporters in Yamachiche, about 100 kilometres from Montreal. “The weather, the temperature, the melting snow — and with a water level that is already high — what we can do is prepare the best we can.”
She thanked Canadian Forces members, who on Sunday had helped fill 4,000 sandbags and continued to provide help Monday.
Joining Guilbault in Yamachiche, Brig.-Gen. Jennie Carignan said there are now 800 military members on the job throughout Quebec. She said the soldiers are well-trained for the work and are “very proud to be able to provide our support.”
In Rigaud, about 70 kilometres west of Montreal, fire Chief Daniel Boyer said a light armoured vehicle was called in to help with the evacuation of a couple who required medical attention. He said the vehicle was able to transport paramedics to the couple’s home and get them to safety.
“That is a large part of the reason of why the Army is with us,” Boyer said. “The request was made for light armoured vehicles because, at the moment, emergency vehicles can no longer pass in certain places.”
Rigaud Mayor Hans Gruenwald Jr. said residents are taking warnings more seriously than they did when flooding last hit the region in 2017.
“People are a lot more co-operative,” he said. “They understand, and they are totally surprised there is already another flood so close to the last in 2017. Everything is better organized.”
As he toured a flood zone in the Laval area Sunday, Premier François Legault noted that many homeowners were still repairing damage caused by 2017’s flooding, suggesting that Quebecers suffering repeated flooding may be forced to move.