Montreal mayor declares state of emergency amid threat of rising flood waters
A whopping 146 municipalities across Quebec face a growing threat from rising waters — nearly 1,900 homes have been affected by flooding.
Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre declared a state of emergency for his city. About 1,200 Canadian Forces personnel have been called in to help with sandbagging and other emergency measures.
Rhonda Massad, a resident of Beaconsfield, Que., in Montreal's West Island, has been helping with volunteer efforts to save people's homes from the flood waters.
As the editor of the West Island Blog, she says her team is working hard to get everybody in one location to get their information easily and quickly.
"Even city officials are sending me communiques regularly," Massad says.
Massad understands when people say help feels slow but points out "there's only so many reserves and nobody was expecting this."
"It's not like you have that kind of manpower on hand ready to go. So I think there is a lot of help, it's just getting that help organized has not been easy."
Massad says while some homes may benefit from sandbagging, the situation is past this point.
She tells Tremonti on Sunday a cement block wall was built and by Monday morning "it was totally gone."
"Mother Nature is not a weak individual."
Massad is not surprised by the incredible generosity of West Island residents but says "it's beautiful."
"The community has joined together. Restaurants have given up their spaces," she explains and adds the West Island Cancer Wellness centre is also "a warm place to go and have a bowl of soup."
"The community is incredible."
Listen to the full segment at the top of this web post.
This segment was produced by The Current's Idella Sturino.