The risk of flooding threatens several regions of Quebec, which are the subject of alerts because of the exceptionally mild temperatures and the rains that fall there.
“The rain and the heat these days, that worries us a bit. So we prepare in advance. We learned from our mistakes in the past,” says France Lafontaine, a resident of Beauce, whose house had to be renovated to better withstand possible flooding.
She and several residents of her region have started a race against time to prepare for the vagaries of the Chaudière River.
Some are content to store their valuables up high and check their water pump, others create veritable fortifications around their homes.
This is particularly the case of Francis Poulin, who, among other things, installed protective rubber strips behind his residence and temporarily reinforced the door and windows of his basement.
Photo Didier Debusschere
Vanessa Hébert and Francis Poulin “lost almost everything” during the historic flood of 2019.
no choice to stay
“We lost almost everything that year,” laments Mr. Poulin, referring to the flood of a magnitude never seen in 100 years, which claimed thousands of victims in 2019.
“But we have no choice but to stay here. We didn’t have enough damage to claim from the government, and no one wants to buy a flood-prone house,” he continues.
Photo Didier Debusschere
The Beauceville resident removes the gypsum panels from his basement, to prevent them from taking on water during a possible flood.
Elsewhere in Quebec, the Estrie and Montérégie regions are monitored by the Ministry of Public Security due to the “increased” risk of flooding.
Pretty much everywhere
Hydro-Météo has issued flood watch warnings for the L’Acadie and des Anglais rivers in Montérégie, as well as for the Rigaud river in the Outaouais.
Ice break-up warnings were also issued for the Châteauguay River as well as in almost all of the regions of Estrie and Centre-du-Québec.
While these sectors are placed on high alert, the situation is however under control for the moment on the Beauce side, although the heat and rain of the past few days have raised fears of the worst.
Yesterday morning, the Chaudière River monitoring system indicated light flooding on the Saint-Georges side, while the watercourse was “under surveillance” on the Beauceville side.
“There is still quite a lot of snow on the ground, it has made it possible to soak up the last precipitation and to prevent the water level from rising too quickly. But we remain on our guard,” said Paul Morin, spokesperson for the City of Beauceville.
On the Saint-Georges side, an ice jam was created near Île aux Chèvres two weeks ago. A situation that is repeated every year, according to Mayor Claude Morin, who reaffirms his desire to remove part of this island to avoid other disasters.
– With Olivier Faucher
Reference-www.journaldemontreal.com