Maniwaki schools, care home evacuated as flood waters rise again

Two schools and a long-term care home in Maniwaki, Que., are being evacuated as heavy rain swells waterways across the Outaouais, leading to warnings that areas that flooded late last month could flood again.

Sixty-six people living at the Foyer Père Guinard in Maniwaki are being sent to stay at hospitals, community centres and with their families because of an expected surge in water levels.

Students are being sent home from Cité Étudiante de la Haute Gatineau and Maniwaki Woodland schools.

With the amount of rain the region has seen in recent days, combined with the amount in the forecast, Hydro Quebec has opened one of its dams in the Maniwaki area, meaning water levels should rise significantly by late afternoon.

Maniwaki is under a rainfall warning, with 30 to 50 millimetres of rain possible by Tuesday morning.

That's on top of the 11 millimetres of rain that fell on Maniwaki Sunday, ending a month with more than 140 millimetres of rain.

Anyone looking for information about someone staying at Foyer Père Guinard can call the front desk of the Maniwaki Hospital at 819-449‑4690.

Floods could return

The rainfall warnings across the Outaouais are raising concerns that areas that flooded late last month could flood again.

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Hydro Météo, which monitors water levels in rivers including the Gatineau and Petite-Nation, told Radio-Canada the waterways it watches feed into the Ottawa River, which might return to the same high levels that forced people from their homes in Gatineau and the Pontiac last month.

On Monday morning the City of Gatineau said its flood response teams are going to work again.

St-Louis and René streets in Gatineau are closed because of flooding, with sandbags being brought to the area for anyone who needs them.