Montreal on spring flood alert as water levels climb

Montreal is on alert and ready to help people prepare for flooding as water levels upriver begin to rise.

The city activated its alert mode as part of its special flood response plan on Sunday and city workers erected temporary dikes along the shoreline in some areas where the river was already swelling above its banks.

Neighbourhoods bordering Rivière-des-Prairies, Lake of Two Mountains and Lac St-Louis are particularly at risk of spring flooding, with water levels expected to increase over the next two days.

At a news conference on Monday, Montreal fire operations Chief Martin Guilbault said the city is watching water levels upstream carefully. 

A period of warm spring weather melted snow over the weekend and the city worried that a forecast of rain for much of the week could raise water levels even more. 

But Guilbault said it was too early to tell if water levels would rise as much as they did in 2017 and 2019, recent years when the Montreal area saw extensive flooding.

"We're more preparing in case of floods," he said. "Currently everything seems to be okay."

Guilbault urged Montrealers to be prepared in case their neighbourhood began to flood. 

"Don't wait until the flood comes," Guilbault said. "Be prepared."

But Guilbault said it was too early for residents to start laying sandbags. 

On its website, the city recommends people come up with an emergency plan in case of evacuation, get their hands on an emergency kit and take measures to protect one's home from water infiltration.

"The safety of citizens is a priority and, during spring flooding, the preparation of residents in areas at risk is essential," the city said in a press release.

An increase of the water levels in the rivers around Montreal have been detected and have crossed the "minor flooding threshold" at the Carillon Generating Station on the Ottawa River, the city said. 

Water levels upriver of Montreal, at Pointe-Calumet, Que., west of the city, for example, rose sharply over the weekend. Other monitoring stations west of the city showed similar increases. 

Environment and Climate Change Canada is expecting five to 10 millimetres of rain for Montreal on Monday.

"Our teams are ready to deploy the human, material and financial resources necessary to deal with any flooding," said Alain Vaillancourt, head of public safety on the city's executive committee.

The city of Montreal identified eight areas as being "at-risk" of spring flooding: Ahuntsic-Cartierville, L'Île-Bizard-Sainte-Geneviève, Montréal-Nord, Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Pointe-Claire, Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue and Senneville. 

City workers in L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève are monitoring water levels, cleaning drainage ditches in vulnerable areas and installing temporary dikes, the city said. 

The banks of the Rivière des Prairies, which runs along Montreal's north shore began to overspill their banks in some areas on Monday. A temporary dike stood guard on Jean-Yves Street, on Île-Bizard, where the river was lapping at park benches. 

Debbie Wiardi-Beckman, who lives on the waterfront in the area, said life on the river can be a double-edged sword. 

"I love watching the sunrise every morning from my bedroom but it is [nerve-racking]," she said. "You're on guard. I can't go anywhere for during a couple of months out of the year. But I took that responsibility when I got this place."

Stéphane Côté, the mayor of L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève, says the borough has readied 14 pumping stations around the island to slow the rising water and, in the coming days, volunteers may be needed to start filling sandbags. 

For now, the water levels around the island were approximately the same as they usually are this time of year, Côté said, but that can change fast. 

"It can happen really quickly," he said, "and with the coming week, I know there's going to be a lot of rain so it's supposed to go higher. I'm not in emergency mode yet, but as a mayor you need to be ready for what's going to happen."

In a statement, Pierrefonds-Roxboro warned its citizens that flooding thresholds will soon be reached. "We are counting on our citizens to prepare accordingly to protect their private property in the event of a flood," the statement said. 

Workers there were also installing temporary dikes on Monday. 

Residents should check to see if their property is located in a flood zone, the city added, by using the Quebec government's flood monitoring website.

The flood zone map includes shows neighbourhoods that are deemed to be flood-prone, many of which flooded in both 2017 and 2019. 

Melting snow cause for minor flooding in Quebec City 

In Quebec City, the Lorette River caused minor flooding north of the Jean-Lesage airport over the weekend and the melting snow caused an overflow at the intersection of Notre-Dame Avenue and Jean-Gauvin Route. 

Three kilometres away, firefighters were on site after a stretch of road was flooded under more than 15 centimetres of water in the Chauveau industrial park. 

Ronald Lachance, whose business is in a rented space in the industrial park, thinks there is 15 to 20 centimetres of water in his building. He said this type of event happens too often.

"We can't say it's major, but it's a pain in the butt," said Lachance.