{"id":719477,"date":"2026-07-30T17:41:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T17:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/719477\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T17:41:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T17:41:15","slug":"40-years-no-floods-now-her-montreal-homes-been-hit-3-straight-years-whats-changed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/719477\/","title":{"rendered":"40 years, no floods. Now her Montreal home’s been hit 3 straight years. What’s changed?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wooden studs are exposed where finished walls once stood and construction tools are scattered across the concrete floor as Arlene Thompson-Maclaren works to rebuild her basement.<\/p>\n

For nearly 40 years, the homeowner in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, a suburb in Montreal’s West Island, never had to worry about flooding.<\/p>\n

Today, she\u2019s rebuilding the space for the third time in as many years. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s three years in a row. August of 2024. July of 2025 and June of 2026,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Each time, the cleanup has meant tearing out insulation, drywall and flooring \u2014 “completely rip it all out and start again,” she said with a bitter smile. <\/p>\n

Thompson-Maclaren is one of dozens of residents in Dollard-des-Ormeaux whose homes have flooded during heavy summer rain over the past three years. <\/p>\n

Until recently, many say they never experienced flooding and are now asking the same question: What changed?<\/p>\n

WATCH | What’s with the frequent flooding?:\"\"<\/p>\n

Why are Montreal\u2019s West Island residents facing repeated flooding?<\/p>\n

Dollard-des-Ormeaux resident Arlene Thompson-Maclaren has faced three home floods since 2024 \u2014 a problem she had never experienced in nearly 40 years. Civil engineering experts say adapting older neighbourhoods to withstand heavier rainfall remains a significant challenge.More intense storms<\/p>\n

One part of the explanation, experts say, is climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do see events now in the Montreal area and around the world that are more intense than they used to be,\u201d said Alexis Berg, a climate science professor at the Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a direct consequence of a warmer atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HeavyHeavy rain on June 20 caused massive flooding in Dollard-des-Ormeaux. (Bruno Lavoie\/Radio-Canada)<\/p>\n

Jean-Luc Martel, a professor of construction engineering at \u00c9cole de technologie sup\u00e9rieure who studies urban flooding, says a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, leading to heavier downpours.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith respect to climate change, these are now more frequent events,\u201d he said. \u201cWe should be ready to see these events more and more.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he says heavier rainfall is only one piece of the puzzle.<\/p>\n

Aging infrastructure faces a changing climate<\/p>\n

Martel says many municipal drainage systems were never expected to handle the kind of rainfall cities are now experiencing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe infrastructures were not designed and will never be designed to deal with those extreme rainfall events,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"JeanJean-Luc Martel says the city’s infrastructure was not designed to deal with extreme rainfalls. (Aatefeh Padidar\/CBC News)<\/p>\n

Susan Gaskin, a professor of civil engineering at McGill University, agrees. She also says residents who say nearby development has changed the way water moves through their neighbourhoods are not wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are correct. The more somewhere is built up, the more impermeable surface you have,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

More pavement and rooftops mean less water can soak into the ground, sending larger volumes of runoff toward storm sewers.<\/p>\n

However, Gaskin says newer developments are generally designed with systems that temporarily retain some of that runoff before it reaches municipal infrastructure.<\/p>\n

The bigger challenge, she says, is adapting older neighbourhoods that were built decades ago for a different climate.<\/p>\n

‘It’s not 1 solution’ <\/p>\n

Experts say adapting cities will require a combination of approaches.<\/p>\n

Some involve upgrading infrastructure. Others focus on changing how neighbourhoods handle rainwater before it reaches storm sewers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not one solution,\u201d Martel said. \u201cEvery single area will have a different solution that will be helping them more than another area in particular. Depending on the impact that you have, you need to find the right solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

WATCH | Residents in Dollard-des-Ormeaux consider legal action after flooding:\"\"<\/p>\n

Dollard-des-Ormeaux residents consider class action after repeated flooding<\/p>\n

Weeks after flash flooding damaged homes across the suburb in Montreal\u2019s West Island, some residents say the financial and emotional toll has become too much. Residents are backing a proposed class action alleging the city failed to adequately prepare for repeated flooding.<\/p>\n

He says homeowners can also reduce future damage by rebuilding flood-prone basements with more resilient materials and limiting expensive finishes in spaces that are likely to flood again.<\/p>\n

One approach gaining traction is bringing more nature into urban environments.<\/p>\n

Cha\u00efma Ben, executive director of the Centre d\u2019\u00e9cologie urbaine, says cities have traditionally been designed to move rainwater away as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe say bring nature back,” she said. “To remove the asphalt, to depave and plant, add more greenery, add areas that can retain the water.” <\/p>\n

LISTEN | Why some Montreal neighbourhoods flooding for the first time:<\/p>\n

Daybreak Montreal8:24Why are floods in Montreal happening more often and what can be done to help?<\/p>\n

The City of Dollard-des-Ormeaux has cancelled a public information session about the flooding that hit parts of the city this past June.\u00a0Dollard says the cancellation comes after residents filed an application for authorization of a class action lawsuit against the municipality. CBC reporter Aatefeh Padidar looked into it.<\/p>\n

Trees, gardens and other green spaces help absorb rainwater while slowing the amount of runoff entering storm sewers during heavy rainfall.<\/p>\n

Ben says these nature-based solutions can complement larger infrastructure projects, which often take years and cost millions of dollars to complete.<\/p>\n

She also encourages homeowners to prepare their own properties by maintaining backwater valves and gutters, installing sump pumps where appropriate and replacing paved surfaces with greener alternatives whenever possible.<\/p>\n

\"BasementThompson-Maclaren’s basement in Dollard-des-Ormeaux is undergoing yet another rebuild after a third flood. (Aatefeh Padidar\/CBC News)<\/p>\n

Back in her basement, Thompson-Maclaren continues the repairs herself.<\/p>\n

After three consecutive floods, she says she isn\u2019t looking for someone to blame; she wants to know what comes next. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to know when and how and what so we can set certain expectations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wooden studs are exposed where finished walls once stood and construction tools are scattered across the concrete floor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":719478,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-719477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=719477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/719478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=719477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=719477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}