Power outages lead to flooding in Châteauguay, Que., after sewer pumps shut off

More than 250 homes have been flooded in a Montreal suburb after Wednesday's ice storm cut power to crucial pumps in its sewer network.

At least 10,000 more homes are at risk of flooding in Châteauguay, Que. Mayor Éric Allard has put emergency measures in place.

Wednesday's ice storm has cut power to about a million Hydro-Québec customers, with that number expected to fluctuate in the coming hours. Allard said the blackout in his municipality could last a few days.

"We are trying to put services in place for citizens," he said Thursday.

Mid-day Thursday, 15,140 of the 23,057 Hydro customers in Châteauguay were still without power. The city's Georges P.-Vanier cultural centre is serving as a temporary emergency shelter.

Declaring a state of emergency allows municipalities to quickly spend money on emergency shelters or other measures.

"There are a lot of people who are flooded," said Allard. "We are constantly getting calls and that worries us a lot."

Fire service operation chief Patrick Desmarais said there have been more than 450 emergency calls in 24 hours.
At the same time, officials are watching the Châteauguay River's waters rise, concerned it will overflow.

Premier François Legault said the province's public utility is working to restore power to the pumps in Châteauguay to prevent more flooding. 

Régis Tellier, the vice-president of operations and maintenance for Hydro-Québec, called it a priority.

"We are doing our best to help the victims," said Tellier during a news conference Thursday.