The city of Drummondville declared an alert state on Monday, advising residents in flood-prone areas near the Saint-François river ascent that leave their homes.
Drummondville is only one of several Quebec communities under the observation of floods, since mild climate and rain cause high water levels in several rivers in the central and southern parts of the province.
In Beauceville, the streets along the Chaudière river flooded on Monday morning.
At the last minute of Sunday night, an ice jam formed in the center of the city of the municipality, which makes the river rise quickly and exploded on its banks.
Beauceville established a 20.1 C heat record on Sunday, according to the environment and climate change, Canada. It was also Quebec’s most popular place.
The river monitoring team issued an alert around 7 AM warning the people affected by floods to evacuate their homes and businesses. An emergency shelter has been opened in the local sand. At 10 in the morning, the river level had reached the lower flood threshold.
The floods have arrived earlier than usual, says Philippe Gachon, professor of Hydroclimatology at the University of Québec à Montréal.
The municipality is one of several throughout the province under Watch Watch. The warm climate and rain caused high levels of water in multiple rivers in the central and southern parts of Quebec.
With temperatures that reach 14 C and 15 C, without frost conditions, he says that defrosting not only happened during the day but also during the night.
“All water goes[es] Directly to the river without any possibility of going inside the ground, “Gachon said.
Michel Baraër says it will be important to see if the floods can naturally retreat in the next few days.
“It was as if we had gone from real winter at the end of spring in two days,” said Baraër, a professor of École de Technologie SupérieureSpecialized in snow on ice hydrology.
“It is very cold. We accumulate a significant amount of snow and the weather was cold enough to freeze the soil at somewhat good depths and also to form a strong ice cover.”
300 buildings evacuated in Drummondville
On Monday, Drummondville had issued a precautionary measure that ordered the evacuation of 300 buildings. At 7 am, about 20 of them had already been evacuated.
“Now we are in the alert phase, which means that we are now advising our residents who live in flooding areas that leave their homes,” said the spokesman for the city, Dominic Villeneuve.
He said those affected can go to the Sportif Girardin Center on the Street.
“People on the site can find heat, electricity to recharge equipment, they can shower,” he said Monday morning.
Québec 511 also asked motorists to be careful when driving near the river roads, since their levels could make some streets flood.
13,000 asked boiling tap water
The city of Nicolet, a municipality near Trois-Rivières, asked its residents to boil the tap water after flooding in its drinking water production plant caused an interruption.
Initially, the city asked residents not to drink water. Until Monday afternoon, water was recommended before consumption. The notice also affects neighboring municipalities that use Nicolet’s drinking water.
The city is working to solve the problem and is distributing 18 -liter water bottles. Each home has the right to a bottle per day. The municipality estimates that 13,000 people are affected, including the villages surrounding Nicolet.
A water distribution kiosk has been established in front of the water production plant, in Boulevard Louis-Féchette.
In Sherbrooke, certain streets are closed to traffic and municipal services mobilize when the Saint-François river overflowed its banks in the city on Sunday night.
In a statement, the city of Sherbrooke said the river was low “high surveillance” and encourages people to visit their website to follow the situation as it evolves.
According to local services, the water level reached 5.80 meters on Sunday night under the Aylmer bridge in Sherbrooke center.
The following traffic lanes closed on Monday morning in Sherbrooke:
- The access ramp that leads to Galt Street West and Joffre Bridge in large southern streets in the city center.
- Small fork and reed streets.
Another four lower floods were reported on Monday morning: the Bulstrode River in Victoraville, in Center-Du-Québec; The Eaton River in Cookshire-Eaton, in Strie; the Nicolet river near Saint-Léonard-D’aston, in Center-Du-Québec; and the Rigaud River, which has affected Saint-Eugène in Ontario, near the provincial border.
Nine other river routes are being monitored.
The Ministry of Security of the Province says that the flood peak will be observed on Monday.
