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Environment Canada says conditions are favourable for a repeat of Saturday evening’s storms as hundreds in southern Quebec deal with the aftermath of flash flooding.
A series of “near-stationary thunderstorms” already dumped between 100 and 170 millimetres of rain Saturday on Montreal’s West Island and other parts of southern Quebec, according to the agency.
The borough mayor for Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Jim Beis, who is also responsible for security and prevention with the City of Montreal’s executive committee, said in a news conference Sunday that he’s not sure a system exists that could have handled that volume.
“We had properties where water was coming out from the ground,” he said, adding that the drainage system is being maintained on a regular basis. “The ground was saturated at 100 per cent.”
Now Environment Canada is warning it could happen again, in a weather alert issued Sunday morning.
Streets and around 300 residences flooded in the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough and Dollard-des-Ormeaux, said Martin Guilbault, a division chief with the Montreal fire service, in Sunday’s news conference.
He added that around 800 calls to 911 originated from those areas Saturday. The fire service also had to rescue 15 people trapped in their vehicles on flooded streets, he said.
About 4,400 Hydro-Québec clients in Montreal were still without power shortly after 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, according to the public utility.
Hydro-Québec says power should be restored to around 3,000 clients by 1 p.m. Sunday.
Resident braces for insurance company’s reaction
Pierrefonds resident Joseph Carino says the borough’s main boulevard turned into a “swimming pool” Saturday evening.
Though he’s supposed to spend Monday at his daughter’s wedding, Carino says he’ll now have to make time for his insurance company as well, noting their offices were closed when he tried to reach them Saturday evening.
He says he hopes they don’t give him a hard time given that his neighbourhood is not considered a flood zone.
“This [water] all came through the ground, it did not come from pipes,” he said. “My hands are tied with Mother Nature if she wants to drop it she’s going to drop it so it’s no fault of my own.”
At least, he was able to hang up his son’s tux and spare it from any damage, he says — unlike the pile of soaked items now lining his driveway.
Carino says Saturday’s flood marks the fourth time his house flooded in nine years; it flooded in 2017, 2019, 2024 and 2026.
“And now we’re waiting for the next one in 2028. I can only laugh about it” he said.
A storm system over Quebec on Saturday has led to heavy rain that has caused flooding and power outages in Montreal’s West Island, including Dollard-des-Ormeaux.
Impacts on the South Shore
Parts of the South Shore and Outaouais regions were also affected.
In Saint-Mathieu, in the Montérégie, the municipality is asking residents to limit their water consumption as its network is still saturated, it said on social media. It said residents should check if their toilets are flushing properly before using them regularly again.
The municipality also says its 911 service is being highly solicited at the moment, and is urging residents to dial the number only if they’re faced with an emergency presenting an immediate danger to them.
