Flood fighting continues around Canada, over 400 soldiers deployed to Quebec
Posted May 7, 2017 04:22:03 AM.
Last Updated May 7, 2017 06:41:33 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MONTREAL – Across the country thousands of Canadians are spending the weekend in a desperate struggle with rising floodwaters caused by unusually persistent rainfall.
On Saturday more than 400 Canadian Forces personnel were deployed to western and central Quebec as high water continued to threaten hundreds of residences, including some in the Montreal area.
The soldiers will be helping firefighters and municipal authorities.
More than 130 Quebec communities have been hit by flooding, with an estimated 1,500 homes affected and 850 people forced to evacuate.
Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard visited the flooded Montreal-area community of Rigaud yesterday and urged people to heed authorities if they recommend they leave their homes.
In the eastern Ontario, a heroic sandbagging effort failed to prevent dozens of homes in the village of Cumberland from being flooded.
In Atlantic Canada New Brunswick has taken the hardest hit with 100 millimetres of rain falling in some areas in just two days — and Environment Canada warns there’s more to come.
Emergency officials have been telling residents to stay away from the province’s waterways and watch out for washed-out roads.
Meanwhile, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island were expected to be hit with 30 to 40 millimetres overnight Saturday.
In British Columbia, rain combined with warm temperatures that have accelerated the melting of the snowpack have resulted in flooding and mudslides throughout the province.
The City of West Kelowna declared a local state of emergency Saturday due to flooding, and some residents have been evacuated.
Dozens of properties north of Kelowna were also under an evacuation order due to flooding, while sections of the Trans Canada Highway near Salmon Arm and Glacier National Park were closed due to mudslides.
