\u201cI (know) people who lost everything,\u201d Orenstein said. \u201cThey don\u2019t have money to make renovations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Orenstein estimated that some renovations will cost more than $200,000, he said he had heard of insurance payouts as low as $10,000. Others have no insurance, he said, after insurers pulled coverage in the wake of the 2024 floods.<\/p>\n
The class-action applications target Pierrefonds-Roxboro and Dollard-des-Ormeaux, accusing local governments of negligence for failing to install sufficient flood-protection infrastructure.<\/p>\n
The municipalities did not respond to The Gazette\u2019s request for comment in time for publication.<\/p>\n
Although Orenstein said he was still waiting for an expert report, \u201cmy inclination is that there should have been no flooding\u201d had the cities done more to prepare.<\/p>\n
Given the intense damage already suffered in 2024, he said the municipalities \u201cwould have known that any serious rainfall \u2026 could not be handled by the system.\u201d<\/p>\n
The class-action applications, which require a judge\u2019s approval before Orenstein can go ahead with the lawsuits, are seeking monetary damages as well as a court order to force municipalities to increase their flood-prevention infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Sponge parks, which absorb rainfall, as well as catch basins, retention facilities, cisterns and reservoirs could all form part of the added infrastructure, the applications say.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0621-city-flooding_303850780.jpg\")
A Montreal firefighter pumps water from a house on Kent St. in Pierrefonds on Sunday, June 21, 2026, after flash flooding the day before. Tim Snow \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
No infrastructure will \u2018reduce damage to zero\u2019: expert<\/p>\n
Protecting against floods at the scale seen last month isn\u2019t realistic, said Susan Gaskin, a McGill civil engineering professor with expertise in flood management.<\/p>\n
The flooding on June 20 was concentrated in a small section of the West Island, she said, and occurred at too high a volume for flood-prevention infrastructure to stop.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat localized precipitation event could have happened anywhere in the city,\u201d Gaskin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we were to build infrastructure that would cope with 170 mm across the whole city, that would cost an enormous amount. Essentially, it\u2019s not possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Historical data would predict that such heavy rainfall would only occur once every 1,000 years or so, Gaskin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that we have climate change means it\u2019s happening more frequently.\u201d<\/p>\n
Montreal-area municipalities have added flood-management infrastructure, including sponge parks, which Gaskin said reduce the amount of water sewers need to take in.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut those sponge parks will never be able to cope with the event that we had on June 20.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gaskin blamed much of the flood damage on lax zoning regulations, which she said allowed developers in both Dollard-des-Ormeaux and Pierrefonds-Roxboro to build homes in flood-prone areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we had much tighter regulations on where people could build, we would have fewer flooding problems,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Homeowners tasked with rebuilding in the wake of the floods should now consider future flooding when making decisions, Gaskin said. That could mean installing tiles instead of carpet, she said, or even using blocks to keep items off the floor to avoid water damage.<\/p>\n
With continued emissions expected to exacerbate climate change, floods \u201care going to keep happening,\u201d Gaskin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think that we\u2019re ever going to be able to reduce damage to zero, because these precipitation events are so big.\u201d<\/p>\n
More information on the class-action lawsuits is available at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n