No respite from flood
Thousands of people forced from their homes in three provinces
OTTAWA — Thousands of people across Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick are facing several more days of flooding as waters rise to record levels in some regions and slowly recede in others.
Efforts to hold back the water have seen thousands of volunteers, residents and military troops race to protect homes from rising waters; the closure of bridges and roads, including one connecting Ottawa to Gatineau, Que., across the Ottawa River; and evacuations of thousands of homes. Public officials in many places have asked more homeowners to consider leaving before the water makes some roads impassable.
The Canadian military has deployed more members to combat flooding than in combat zones overseas, and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan is promising even more to regions that need the help.
Speaking in Milford, N.B., Sajjan said some 2,000 troops have been deployed to flood-ravaged regions that requested military help, compared to 1,600 deployed overseas.
“We don’t have any limit. It’s all based on the situation. If more are needed, we will always make more troops available,” Sajjan said.
The most dire situation in the country is in Ste-Marthesur-le-Lac, Que., a suburb west of Montreal that was inundated Saturday night after the Lake of Two Mountains burst through a natural dike.
More than 5,000 residents were forced to grab what they could, including pets, and flee as waist-high water filled their streets and homes. Another 1,500 people were evacuated the following day.
Premier Francois Legault visited the scene Sunday and announced $1 million in immediate funding to the Red Cross to ensure the evacuees’ immediate needs are met. He said it was “almost a miracle” that everyone was safe.
The dike-breach brought to 5,584 the total number of flooded homes in Quebec, with some 7,566 people forced to evacuate.
In Ottawa, hundreds of military members joined more than 2,000 volunteers in preparing sandbags for properties threatened by flooding along the bloated Ottawa River, which is at or above record levels set in the last flood in 2017.
The river’s peak is expected to arrive by mid-week — Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on the location — and then remain stable depending on the weather, based on the latest update from the Ottawa River Regulation Planning Board.
Canadian Armed Forces personnel are also packing and stacking sandbags in central Ontario’s cottage country, where flooding has prompted the declaration of states of emergency in the communities of Bracebridge, Muskoka Lakes, Huntsville and Minden Hills.
And more rain is forecast for the region later this week.
Meanwhile, the forecast for southern New Brunswick calls for floodwaters to slowly recede in most areas this week.