Residents feeling helpless after sewers back up in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que.
Support from insurance companies falls short, say affected residents
Homeowners in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que., are calling for help after Friday's torrential rain led to backed up sewers flooding their basements — leaving some with thousands of dollars in losses.
Rick Aquino spent all day Saturday cleaning up and coming to terms with the magnitude of Friday's mess.
His parents have been living on Roosevelt Street for close to three decades and until Friday had never experienced a basement flood, he said.
"Never thought this would happen to us," said Aquino, looking at furniture, appliances and other items spread across the driveway that would be bagged up and thrown out.
A record-breaking 157 millimetres of rain fell on the island of Montreal Friday as remnants of tropical storm Debby drenched the southern part of Quebec.
In the span of 45 minutes, water from both outside and inside the house infiltrated into the property and reached knee-high levels, Aquino said.
He estimated the material losses add up to around $50,000 for him and his family. However, when he finally got a hold of his insurance company, it offered him a flat rate of $15,000.
"Nobody wants to do anything anymore. They're not sending any adjusters, they're just saying 'X' number of dollars because you're in a flood zone — something that we did not even know," he said.
A few doors down, members of the Singh family sported elbow-length cleaning gloves to try to get their house in order for an upcoming wedding.
"Everything was just floating in water," said Arneet Singh, whose sister is getting married next month.
Her mother was able to salvage her daughter's bridal outfits, but couldn't save everything — including the family's photo albums.
"That's probably what hurts the most," said Singh.
Unlike Aquino, they haven't even been able to get through to their insurance company. Every time they call, an automated message explains how overwhelmed the lines are before the call drops.
Singh herself works for an insurance company and said she's reflecting a lot about the future, given the number of extreme weather events happening across the globe.
"Everyone should be, like, putting a preventive hat on at this point," she said.
'On your own and helpless'
For neighbour Linda Moras, the key to moving on is accepting that it's going to take some time for her home to be comfortable again.
She went to bed at 4 a.m. Saturday and hasn't even bothered calling her insurance company yet, saying she wants to assess the damage first.
"It smells, it's horrible, and then you worry about your health," she said, referring to the sewage water that infiltrated everything.
"You're kind of on your own and helpless," said Moras. "We're not, like, 40 years old anymore, so it's a lot."
The city says residents with concerns should reach out.
"As far as we know, the flood waters were from the storm drains and not sewage," said city spokesperson Eftyhia Volakakis in a statement to CBC News.
The city's public works department looked into numerous flooding areas and all those cases were from storm drains, she said.
Volakakis said crews worked on Friday to "ensure that drains were working, streets were clear, and [that] traffic lights were functional," and that the safety and well-being of residents remained a priority.
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With files from Paula Dayan Perez