Environment Canada says conditions are favourable for a repeat of Saturday evening’s storms as hundreds in southern Quebec deal with the aftermath of flash flooding.
A series of “near-stationary thunderstorms” already dumped between 100 and 170 millimetres of rain Saturday on Montreal’s West Island and other parts of southern Quebec, according to the agency.
The borough mayor for Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Jim Beis, who is also responsible for security and prevention with the City of Montreal’s executive committee, said in a news conference Sunday that he’s not sure a system exists that could have handled that volume.
“We had properties where water was coming out from the ground,” he said, adding that the drainage system is being maintained on a regular basis. “The ground was saturated at 100 per cent.”
Now Environment Canada is warning it could happen again, in a weather alert issued Sunday morning. The agency noted that the ground in areas hit by the heaviest rain may not be able to absorb much more water.
Officials with Dollard-des-Ormeaux say they deployed their pumps in “strategic” locations in preparation for any additional rainfall.
Work is also underway to drain the Civic Centre which was flooded Saturday. Activities there and at the Aquatic Center and the Seniors’ Club are cancelled until further notice, the municipality says.
Beis says he isn’t particularly worried about Sunday’s forecast, adding that teams have been deployed just in case.
“Since 2017, we think we’ve become the experts in managing floods but we have a perfect example [here] for how we need to adapt to the realities of climate change today and that’s what we’re doing,” he said.
Streets and around 300 residences flooded in the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough and Dollard-des-Ormeaux, said Martin Guilbault, a division chief with the Montreal fire service, in Sunday’s news conference.
He added that around 800 calls to 911 originated from those areas Saturday. The fire service also had to rescue 15 people trapped in their vehicles on flooded streets, he said.
Guilbault says an emergency service centre for residents was set up at fire station 61 on Sunnydale Street in Dollard-des-Ormeaux.
Power outages continued to decline Sunday after storms left about 20,000 Hydro-Quebec customers without electricity Saturday night.
As of 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon, the number of affected clients in the Montreal region was around 1,200.
Hydro-Québec said Sunday morning that some outages were preventive and that crews were continuing to restore electricity to affected customers.
Guilbault said that before turning power back on in their homes, residents should reach out to an electrician if their electrical panel was damaged by water.
In a public notice on Sunday, the municipality of Dollard-des-Ormeaux said it is putting in place a special curbside garbage pickup on Monday to clear debris from the flooding.
It is also asking its residents to limit their water consumption so as to not risk backing up the sewers.
Resident braces for insurance company’s reaction
Pierrefonds resident Joseph Carino says the borough’s main boulevard turned into a “swimming pool” Saturday evening.
Though he’s supposed to spend Monday at his daughter’s wedding, Carino says he’ll now have to make time for his insurance company as well, noting their offices were closed when he tried to reach them Saturday evening.
Pierrefond resident Joseph Carino says Saturday’s flash flood marks the fourth time his house has flooded in the last nine years. (Paula Dayan-Perez/CBC)
He says he hopes they don’t give him a hard time given that his neighbourhood is not considered a flood zone.
“This [water] all came through the ground, it did not come from pipes,” he said. “My hands are tied with Mother Nature if she wants to drop it she’s going to drop it so it’s no fault of my own.”
At least, he was able to hang up his son’s tux and spare it from any damage, he says — unlike the pile of soaked items now lining his driveway.
Carino says Saturday’s flood marks the fourth time his house flooded in nine years; it flooded in 2017, 2019, 2024 and 2026.
“And now we’re waiting for the next one in 2028. I can only laugh about it” he said.
Claude Drolet’s house, in the same block, was also flooded two years ago. He says his insurance requires five years to elapse before it can cover damages again.
Saturday, he saw his street turn into a lake and his car float in his garage. Since he and his wife moved in in the 1970s, he’s seen his property flood four or five times, he said.
Now, Drolet said they are seriously considering leaving the area.
“We have to do the whole basement again, take everything apart,” he said. “We just brought a new washing machine and dryer three weeks ago, they’re going to be finished again. It’s very bad.”
As for Sunday’s forecast: “Nothing you can do,” he says.
Quebec’s been affected by several major flooding cases over the last few years with the one in 2024 standing out as the “costliest severe weather event in Quebec’s history,” per the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC).
The IBC says it has recorded on average 25,000 flood-related claims from Quebec over the last five years. In a statement to Radio-Canada, it says the average cost of claims increased by 127.7 per cent between 2014 and 2024 — a year when remnants of a hurricane hit southern Quebec at the start of August.
WATCH | Some cars stuck on the road in Dollard-des-Ormeaux:
Heavy rains flood homes and streets in Dollard-des-Ormeaux on Montreal’s West Island
A storm system over Quebec on Saturday has led to heavy rain that has caused flooding and power outages in Montreal’s West Island, including Dollard-des-Ormeaux.Saint-Mathieu asks residents to limit water consumption
Parts of the South Shore and Outaouais regions were also affected.
In Saint-Mathieu, in the Montérégie, the municipality is asking residents to limit their water consumption until the end of the weekend as its network is still saturated, it said on social media. It said residents should check if their toilets are flushing properly before using them regularly again.
The municipality also says its 911 service is being highly solicited at the moment, and is urging residents to dial the number only if they’re faced with an emergency presenting an immediate danger to them.
In an update Sunday afternoon, Mayor Jean-Luc Dulude said the situation was under control.
“A huge thank you to citizens who offered their equipment, time and their help,” Dulude said in a video posted to Facebook.
“Seeing people helping each other, supporting each other during the most difficult time is a source of great pride for our community.”