Of flooded houses in the area not liable to flooding

Photo taken from Facebook

Antoine Lacroix

Thursday, 22 February, 2018 19:17

UPDATE
Friday, February 23, 2018 00:52

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Citizens of Saint-Pie, near Saint-Hyacinthe, who believed they live in an area not liable to flooding saw their basements fill with water yesterday after the Black river out of its bed.

“When you live in an area supposedly non-flood, this is not something that you care about. This is what the City had said. Now, we will really watch for the river in winter “, let it go Hugo Lussier, noting the damage in the basement of his house that he had just finished building.

A little before 8 a.m. yesterday, the river level is mounted very quickly, ultimately flooding about a dozen homes, and cripple the Notre-Dame street for several hours. Huge blocks of ice from the water courses have littered the streets and blocked the traffic until mid-afternoon.

Photo Antoine Lacroix

The floods have left behind huge chunks of ice to Saint-Pie.

The current was so strong and the water level is so high that even the car of Mr. Lussier was dragged about fifty meters.

“It has mounted up to almost 7 feet in my basement, very rapidly,” says Mr Lussier. A window was broken and several blocks of ice are entered. Everything is finished in the basement. This is unreal. “

A never-before-seen in 30 years

Same goes for another resident of the area who had “never seen” such a situation arise since he lives on the edge of the river, there are now 30 years old.

“Everything was ripped off in the basement, it is total chaos. Already, the insurance companies tell me that they will not pay [because this is not something that they cover]. If the people in the spring have been entitled to financial aid, I expect that I am right, this would be fair, ” argued François Dubé.

Photo Antoine Lacroix

You can see Hugo Lussier, including to the basement of his new house was completely flooded. His car has also been washed away by the water about fifty meters.

Discouraged to the extent of the damage, Hugo Lussier had the same thought.

“Who is going to pay for all of that ? I look forward to hearing from the authorities to start picking up the damage, ” he said.

No miracle solution

According to the directorate of civil Security of the Montérégie region, nine homes were flooded, and 50 were threatened by the waters yesterday, forcing the evacuation of 125 people. This would be because of the formation of an ice jam.

“There was nothing to do, there was no miracle solution. The ice broke up on the river and it came to hit us. This is an exceptional situation, ” says Sylvain Daigneault, director of the fire service in Saint-Pie.

He pointed to the work of his firefighters, who took turns to make the roads passable.

St. Pius has set up a temporary accommodation centre for the victims and some have been supported by the Red Cross. It has been impossible to maintain with the City, yesterday.