Rainfall causes flooding and evacuations in regions of Quebec

MONTREAL – Environment Canada has issued warnings of torrential rains in several regions of Quebec, and evacuation notices have been issued in the Eastern Townships and Quebec City, where municipalities have declared a state of emergency.

Just under a thousand people were evacuated Tuesday afternoon, mainly as a precautionary measure, but the situation was stabilizing in many areas, with no Environment Canada rainfall warnings in effect by late evening.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Public Safety explained that the storms caused damage mainly “in a corridor” that includes the Eastern Townships, Centre-du-Québec, Mauricie, Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches.

“Roads that were blocked, roads that were damaged, culverts that broke, these are the kinds of consequences we’re seeing,” said Joshua Ménard-Suarez.

In addition, Hydro-Québec was reporting numerous outages late Tuesday evening. More than 62,000 customers were without power at the time.

However, by 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, the situation had improved, with just over 33,400 outages reported, mostly in the Outaouais and Laurentians regions.

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The Festival d’été de Québec also indicated on its Facebook page that it was cancelling outdoor shows in the evening as a precautionary measure, since the weather forecast suggested that conditions could deteriorate rapidly.

From Winnipeg, where he was holding a press briefing at the summer meeting of the Council of the Federation, Premier François Legault said the government was making sure evacuees were well housed temporarily.

“We’re optimistic that the problems will be resolved fairly quickly,” he added.

Towards stabilization in the Eastern Townships

The large quantities of rain that fell in the Eastern Townships caused the level of the Saint-François River, which flows through downtown Sherbrooke, to rise sharply.

The city therefore decided to evacuate 296 people as a precautionary measure. By the end of the day, the river level had stabilized and “the brighter weather forecast for the next 24 hours means that most residents can return to their homes”, says the city on its website.

“We’ve gone from eight feet to 21 feet in less than four hours, that’s an extraordinary amount of water,” said Sherbrooke Fire Protection Service (SPCIS) Director Stéphane Simoneau earlier.

Such a situation in the middle of summer “is unheard of”, added Sherbrooke mayor Évelyne Beaudin at a press briefing on Tuesday morning.

“We used to be able to have a model, an intervention recipe” that predicted the increase in the river’s water level based on the amount of rainfall, but now “we’re finding that our models are less consistent” due to climate change, added Mayor Beaudin.

Authorities reported that Sherbrooke’s Île-Marie campground, located on the banks of the Saint-François River, and the municipal garage were evacuated. Some roads were closed to traffic.

Environment Canada added that such precipitation, combined with that already received, was unusually high and could cause flash flooding, flooding, landslides and water accumulation on roads.

In the municipality of Eastman, on Tuesday, the fire department evacuating homes, and municipal services identified a number of impassable roads and highways. Road closures and evacuations are also taking place in Cookshire-Eaton, while municipalities such as Potton, where Route 243 is closed, have declared a state of emergency.

Evacuations in Quebec City

Heavy rainfall in the Capitale-Nationale region since Monday, combined with Tuesday’s rainfall, has prompted municipal authorities to take action.

In Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval, near Quebec City, 520 people have been evacuated and Mayor France Fortier has declared a “state of local emergency” due to flooding on the Montmorency River. The evacuation notice remains in place for the night and will be reassessed on Wednesday.

On Tuesday afternoon, the municipality of Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury evacuated certain sectors due to rising water levels. Nevertheless, the town announced the closure of its reception center in the late afternoon, as “the worst seems to be behind us for the sector”.

In Quebec City, on Tuesday, the Fire Protection Service carried out a mandatory evacuation of some twenty homes in the Trois-Saults street area, also due to the water level of the Montmorency River, which has exceeded its flood threshold and whose water flow continues to increase.

The flooding caused road closures in the region, including Route 369 in Saint-Raymond and Route 367 in Lévis. In Saint-Raymond, part of Rang Saguenay was washed away by the rains.

In Charlevoix, the Rivière du Gouffre, which burst its banks and caused major damage last May, once again caused “major flooding” upstream of the bridge in the village of Saint-Urbain. However, the river’s water level was falling by mid-afternoon, so that public safety authorities considered it to be “minor flooding” at the end of the afternoon.

Risk of landslides

The risk of landslides increases when soils are waterlogged, as is currently the case, warns Ministry of Public Safety spokesman Joshua Ménard-Suarez.

“It’s insidious, because it’s hard to know where it might manifest, when and how big it might get.”

Public Safety is asking the public to be on the lookout, and to report to municipal authorities any anomaly on a property, such as a crack on a slope, a bulge in a slope, a rockfall or unusual water flow down an embankment.

Monitoring in other regions

In many parts of the Laurentians, Lanaudière and Outaouais regions, conditions are conducive to the formation of severe thunderstorms, with the potential to produce strong gusts and large hail.

In the Mauricie region, conditions are also conducive to severe thunderstorms, with many roads damaged or closed due to heavy precipitation. This was particularly the case in Saint-Casimir, Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade and Lac-aux-Sables.

In the Lac-Saint-Jean and Côte-Nord regions, Environment Canada lifted the severe thunderstorm warnings that had been issued for these areas, but nevertheless issued a smog alert, due to poor air quality resulting from forest fires in Lac-Saint-Jean.

SEPAQ closes grounds

The Société des établissements de plein air du Québec (SEPAQ) has closed all camping areas in the Parc national des Grands-Jardins in Charlevoix, certain areas in the Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie and trails along the banks of the Montmorency River and the Montmorency Falls in Quebec City.

Access to Quebec City’s Parc national de la Jacques-Cartier is also closed due to heavy rain.

The Baie-Éternité sector of Parc national du Fjord-du-Saguenay is also closed following landslides a week ago after torrential rains.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on July 12, 2023