According to the regional director of civil security and fire for Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Janique Lebrun, these five rivers are in the process of overflowing due to the weather conditions of the past few days.
” Often floods are caused by a combination of factors. In this case, it’s the heat of the past week, the melting snow and the rain. »
According to Environment Canada, since Monday, nearly 15 millimeters of rain have fallen in Gaspésie.
The showers that are underway in Baie-des-Chaleurs could bring between 5 and 10 millimeters of additional water.
Ms. Lebrun assures that there is however no major problem for the moment.
We have a few rivers, including the Cascapédia, which has been at the threshold of minor flooding since May 10. The Nouvelle River and the Sainte-Anne River are expected to fall to minor flood threshold this evening. Currently, they are under surveillance.
she explains.
She adds that the York and Bonaventure rivers could also reach the minor flood threshold on Wednesday.
The Cascapedia River is in a state of minor flooding (archives).
Photo: Radio-Canada / Laurie Dufresne
Janique Lebrun maintains that it is easier to predict the behavior of rivers since there is no ice cover on the rivers.
Ice movements are much more sudden. When there are ice jams, it makes the rivers rise very quickly. While without the ice, […] it’s a little more predictable
she raises.
For his part, the director of the fire department of Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, Steve Dumont, indicates that his teams will be ready to react if the Sainte-Anne river overflows this night.
Currently, we are on standby. We have a river that is 241 cubic meters per second. The Sainte-Anne is in a state of overflow from 250. That means that we are on the edge
he mentions.
The Sainte-Anne River extends over approximately 70 kilometers (archives).
Photo: Radio-Canada / Alexandre Lepoutre
” I went to meet citizens this afternoon. We are proactive, we have been doing visits twice a day for the past week. »
If the water level begins to be too high, he will ask citizens to evacuate their residences in order to facilitate operations.
When we intervene to get out of the world, most of the time, they wait until the last minute, in the night, so we put our people’s lives in danger because we don’t know if the path is lit. I don’t have the force of law to tell people to get out of their house, so it’s more difficult at that level
says Mr. Dumont.
Steve Dumont asks citizens to be careful (archives).
Photo: Radio-Canada / Jean-François Deschênes
” It’s always worrying, it’s a force of nature. It’s the river and you shouldn’t play with it. »
Environment Canada meteorologist Amélie Bertrand estimates that as of Wednesday, the rain should subside, which would help lower the water level of rivers in the region.
The good news is that for the days of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, there will be a drying out which will take place. It will be the return of the sun! No rain forecast until next weekend
she says.
In 2021, a major flood took place in Grande-Vallée where a dozen families had been evacuated.
With information from Jean-François Deschenes
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca