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Water surrounds some of the homes on \u00cele Mercier on Tuesday, April 21, 2026. Dave Sidaway \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\nWith most of his backyard \u2014 including his swimming pool \u2014 sitting under four feet of water, Denis Gingras was surprisingly serene on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
The Rivi\u00e8re des Prairies rose six inches overnight, coming up against temporary walls set up by the borough of Pierrefonds at the north end of Ch\u00e2teau-Pierrefonds Ave. Grey temporary walls served as a dike running along the shore, passing right through Gingras\u2019s property. On the river side of the wall, the level had risen to the top of the four-foot fence that surrounds his pool.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis whole area was backfilled in the 1960s, so the river isn\u2019t in the pool, it\u2019s the pool that is in the river,\u201d Gingras said, standing on his patio with his back to the river. \u201cWe\u2019ve been here five generations, so this is typical. It\u2019s a bit higher than normal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gingras had very little water in his home during the historic floods of 2017, as his home is located on slightly higher ground than most of his neighbours.<\/p>\n
His neighbour, Lamine Sellah, wasn\u2019t as lucky, as his property is situated on lower ground. Nine years ago, Sellah had to spend about six months away from home after water came up to a height of three feet around his home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to replace everything: the floors, the walls,\u201d Sellah said. <\/p>\n
Sellah hasn\u2019t been sleeping as soundly in recent days. He walked to the shore on Monday night before going to sleep to check the level, and then again on Tuesday at 5 a.m.<\/p>\n
He said that although the city appears to have made many efforts to keep water at bay, some water has still found its way around the temporary walls and has started to creep toward his house.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just a bit concerned because in 2017, the peak happened on May 7. We\u2019re still a long way away from that, so it\u2019s a bit early for the water level to be this high,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Forecasts have called for water levels to stabilize in the next day or so, but residents know there is another peak to come in the next few weeks.<\/p>\n
Water surrounds some of the homes on \u00cele Mercier on Tuesday, April 21, 2026. Dave Sidaway \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
On \u00cele Mercier, rising levels have forced the city to close the bridge linking their small neighbourhood with \u00cele Bizard, and residents donned hip waders to bring groceries and other provisions across the bridge after parking their cars on higher ground. The trek wasn\u2019t easy, as a strong current in the middle risked sweeping away those less sure footed.<\/p>\n
Some vehicles still made the crossing as the city sent several hundred sandbags, delivered on a flatbed truck.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a relief for us to have some sandbags in reserve in case the water rises even more,\u201d said Pier-Luc Cauchon, a lifelong resident of the island. \u201cThey closed the bridge, so it\u2019s a bit of an inconvenience, but everyone is ready and everyone is dry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cauchon was one of the who remained on the island in 2017 when the island faced the threat of a forced evacuation. As residents fended for themselves for about a week, they took to calling him mayor.<\/p>\n
Cauchon said this time around, water levels are not worrying yet, but he, too, is keenly aware that nature has the final word.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are two peak periods here,\u201d he explained while standing in front of his house. \u201cWe\u2019re at the peak of the first melt, and the second melt is still happening because the snow hasn\u2019t yet all melted up north. We hope the levels have time to go down after the (next peak) arrives. We hope it stays cold for a long period until this water can go away.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the level is still far from where it was in 2017, and he expects the levels will stay significantly lower than the experience that spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere we\u2019re standing, the water came up to about (two feet) and we were riding along here in a boat.\u201d<\/p>\n