In eastern Canada, people are preparing for a record flood. Thousands of homes are already under water in several provinces. In Montreal, a dike broke.
Around 6000 people had to vacate their homes in a suburb of the city of Montreal. Some had only minutes to grab some personal belongings and then leave their homes as quickly as possible, police said Daniel Thibaudeau. Most had reached the warning at dinner: a 50-meter section of a natural dike was broken. The evacuations continued in the morning.
Resident David Tremblay told CBC that neither he nor his father could remember such pictures. Since 1970, they lived on the lakeshore of the „Lake of Two Mountains“. Spring floods are nothing unusual, but such water levels already. In particularly badly affected areas, the water rose by up to two meters, it sloshes on the ground floor windows, captured cars. The Premier of Quebec Province warned the citizens of further „difficult days“. They need courage, says Francois Legault.
Record floods of 2017 exceeded
Canada has been struggling with heavy rains for days. Added to this is the snowmelt. This could raise the water levels of the Ottawa River and the St. Lawrence River even further than during the last major flood in 2017 – a flood that was considered a century-long catastrophe. The peak levels are only expected Monday or Tuesday.
Montreal calls emergency
After Canada’s capital, Ottawa, smaller cities and the city of Montreal have recently declared a state of emergency to better coordinate their assistance. The government uses hundreds of soldiers to fill sandbags and protect dikes. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came to Constance Bay in western Ottawa to support volunteers there. So far, there are no reports of injured or missing persons.
