Flooding from Outaouais River surrounds homes in Rigaud, but residents unfazed

Several homes, a playground, a community mailbox and more were surrounded by water in Rigaud on Monday morning.

Some roads leading to riverfront properties were covered in water after the Outaouais River spilled onto land.

But residents of Rigaud were composed and collected in the face of the unwanted water.

“Right now, I’m OK,” Michel Boudreau told CityNews. “I get used to it. It’s over 35 years I’ve lived here, so it’s not the first time.”

“I’m not going to evacuate. I’ve got a little canoe there. I’m going to just put near my balcony and no, it will be OK.

“You have to live with that. You see, like tomorrow if it’s nice, I’m going to fish from my balcony there with the fishing rod.”

River levels have been rising over the past several days. By 9 a.m. on Monday morning, the Outaouais River was at 24.17 metres — about 35 centimetres higher than it was on Friday at noon.

The Sûreté du Québec could be seen touring the area.

But no evacuations are anticipated, the mayor of Rigaud said, though people are ready to leave if needed.

“For now, we don’t expect any evacuation,” said Mayor Charles Meunier. “If anyone feels insecure and wants to evacuate, the city will help. That’s for sure. But actually, we don’t expect that.”

About 70 homes in total have been affected by this flooding in Rigaud, the community of 8,000 people about 70 kilometres west Montreal.

“Some only have a little bit of water on the ground, but others water reach the house, but no damage yet and people are protecting their house,” Meunier said.

The stuation in Rigaud will largely depend on the “temperature and rain in the next few days,” Quebec’s Ministry of Public Security told CityNews.

“We expect that water level will increase for another maybe 20 centimeters in the next two days,” added the mayor. “We will reach a maximum, stay there maybe for a couple of days, and we will start to go down after.”

Echoing Boudreau, several residents told CityNews they are not worried, saying the situation looks worse than it is.

“It’s not rising up as quickly as before,” said John Taylor. “So I’m quite, you know, not that worried about it.”

“I think it’s normal,” said André Carrière. “As it is, it’s not the worst. If it doesn’t get wet, then we’ll be fine.”

Some, however, still showed signs of frustration.

“I’m so tired because it’s the fourth time the water is floating like that and it’s the same thing every two years,” Eric Martin said.

Elsewhere in Quebec

A drop in temperatures and better weather have given some respite to several municipalities struggling with flooding, but the situation remains at high risk in some places.

The most affected areas in Quebec are the Outaouais, Laurentians, Lanaudière, and Quebec City regions, as well as a few municipalities in the Montérégie region south and east of Montreal.

Fifty-eight Quebecers, nearly all of them in the Laurentians, have been evacuated from their homes due to flooding this spring.

There have been no evacuations in major cities like Montreal and Quebec City, where officials are constantly monitoring water levels.

The only major flooding reported was another 300 kilometres further west from Rigaud on the Outaouais River in the community of Fort-Coulonge.

The town council there declared a state of emergency Sunday evening, and sand dikes have been erected to prevent the river from overflowing. A bridge was closed, and another was being monitored. Citizens are being asked to minimize their water consumption.

In the Montreal region, there was only minor flooding being reported in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue due to rising water levels from Lac des Deux Montagnes, though no homes have been evacuated.

Quebec’s Ministry of Public Security predicts water levels around Montreal will remain stable or see a “slight increase.” One homeowner reported water in their basement.

Chemin de l’Anse-à-l’Orme, in Pierrefonds-Roxboro, remains closed along approximately three kilometres.

“Water levels are still high compared to previous years,” said Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada. “That’s why we’re monitoring the situation closely, but at the same time, we’re better prepared than in previous years.”

In Quebec City, water levels were expected to drop.

“The situation is stabilizing, but municipal teams remain mobilized, particularly along the Saint-Charles, Nelson, and Jaune rivers,” the city said in a statement.

Over the weekend, 45 homes were cut off, but no evacuations took place.

In Gatineau, 165 homes were under surveillance and 41 streets have been closed, but no one had received an evacuation order. The peak is expected either Monday night or Tuesday, after which conditions could stabilize depending on weather patterns.

–With files from La Presse Canadienne