Floors covered in mud, warped walls, destroyed furniture: residents of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve flooded Tuesday evening must now repair the damage caused by the deluge.
Posted at 12:00 a.m.
“It can’t be. My grandchildren no longer have a room,” Manon Desgagnés sobbed, leaning against a wall completely deformed by water. She observes for the umpteenth time what remains of her flooded basement.
The blackened floor strewn with dirty stuffed animals, soaked electric wires, children’s clothes scattered in all the rooms. “It’s chaos. »
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Manon Desgagnés, noting the damage in her residence, Wednesday
Mme Desgagnés was in his upstairs bathroom Tuesday night. Unusual noises were coming from the basement and the toilets. She rushed downstairs with her daughter. It was already too late. The water level was rising rapidly. They could only save the mattresses.
“The water broke down the door. It was like big falls in the basement. I said to myself that for it to break down the door, for me, it is not a normal light rain, ”she describes, wiping her eyes.
She has lived in this building on rue Nicolet for ten years. Her daughter – a single mother of three children aged 5, 10 and 14 – resides below.
We are tenants and we have no insurance. We don’t know how we’re going to do it.
Manon Desgagnes
The Qualinet group, which specializes in disaster recovery, has also been bombarded with calls since Tuesday evening, the company confirms in a press release.
“It was very fast”
The Desgagnés family is not the only ones to suffer the consequences of the downpours. Between the water damage and the flooded basements, many residents of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve did not know where to turn on Wednesday morning.
Residences and businesses were affected by the 56 millimeters of rain that fell on the Montreal region in the space of a few hours.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Félix Tousignant in his basement damaged by the torrential rains on Tuesday
Félix Tousignant and Chantal Lanthier can’t believe it. “There was four feet of water in the basement. It was very quick. In one hour, the firefighters had not been able to pump everything, ”explains Mme Lanthier, rain boots on his feet.
She and her husband were able to save the musical instruments stored in the basement of their Adam Street apartment. Except the gutted battery, which sits in the middle of a small soundproof studio. In the adjoining rooms, the brownish sofa and the bed are soaked with water.
The toilets, their daughter’s room, the music room: everything needs to be redone. In the basement, where there is a burning smell, the floor is completely covered with earth, clothes and rubbish.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ÉTIENNE BOUCHARD-LAMONTAGNE
Flooded courtyard near rue Nicolet, in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
The couple still consider themselves lucky. “We are insured and I am a do-it-yourselfer. We will be able to manage. Many people are even worse off,” said Tousignant.
He still wonders if he should redevelop his basement in anticipation of another deluge.
“The city sewers did not resist the torrent. I think it could happen again. »
An organization loses its food
” The rains [de mardi] evening, it was unheard of,” says the general manager of the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve Collective Kitchen, Benoist de Peyrelongue.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Benoist de Peyrelongue, general manager of the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve Collective Kitchen, sorts the food that must go to the garbage.
The organization distributes fruits, vegetables and foodstuffs to seven organizations that fight against food insecurity.
“We saw the manhole covers rising. To pop the roof flaps, the pressure had to be intense. »
He quickly saw the water level rise up to three feet.
The priority for firefighters was to deal with inhabited basements. So much so that the day after the deluge, he still had his feet in the water.
About 300 families will not have their food basket this week. We lost a large part of our stock.
Benoist de Peyrelongue, General Manager of the Collective Kitchen Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
His gaze falls on a large cold room, where various vegetables were located until recently. “600 kg! In the garbage ! “, he laments.
He plans to review the roof drainage. But these infrastructure changes require funding for an organization like his.
He let out a deep sigh as he looked at the tubs of lettuce and radishes soaked in water. “Half will go in the trash. We managed to save the tomatoes and the preserves. »
The building will be cleaned and activities will resume one day. “But we have like a sword of Damocles above our head. We don’t know how to prepare for the next flood. We will have to adapt,” concludes Mr. de Peyrelongue.