Crevier and Cousineau streets in the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville, in Montreal, are both the repeated victims of floods and administrative decisions that are long overdue.
In 2017, the authorities had an excuse: how to be prepared for such a rare event? The whole area was flooded. I saw my 1 year old baby leave the scene in the arms of firefighters with water up to her waist while I struggled to save what could still be in my home. The kind of image that remains engraved in the memory.
My neighbor nearly died in his semi-basement in the middle of the night and walked away with fear for his life and nagging trauma.
The damage in 2017 was considerable and the costs to match. Followed a long complaints process, so complex that many citizens simply gave up.
Some silver lining. The outpouring of solidarity we received moved us to tears. The City, for its part, analyzed the event and developed intervention plans in the event that nature decides to improvise as a repeat offender.
These plans paid off in 2019. A temporary dike held up under the frightened gaze of already traumatized citizens, but it came close.
2017, 2019, it’s close for a hundred-year flood.
In 2019, while the claims process has improved, the little solidarity music we used to hear has changed a bit and has been replaced by: “They knew it was flooding!” »
Now yes, but how to leave? Sell at Lost ?
2023: here we are! Nature turns out to be a repeat offender! A few blue-collar workers and innovative engineers have vastly improved their process. They are now real beavers. LiDAR simulations are even made available for viewing online. Residents check them frantically on their phone screens for each update.
For permanent protection
But, small grain of sand in this beautiful mechanism… the temporary dike successively comes close to overflowing, then breaking. Without the intervention of citizens, a veritable torrent would have invaded the streets and transformed our homes into foul-smelling pools. Again this engineering building turns out to be a colossus with feet of clay.
Since 2017, a group of citizens have been fighting for permanent protection. We have “virtually” won our case recently with official plans for the construction of a “protective work” (the word “dike” is taboo), but only on a portion of the zone to be defended. A semi-success of course… but a semi-dam never stopped the water from flowing.
The argument put forward for this judgment of Solomon: the Ministry of the Environment does not authorize any construction parallel to the river, because the river must be allowed to flow into its floodplain…
Bad luck: this floodplain corresponds to the place where since 1900 the City organizes its growth and collects taxes.
What hypocrisy not to want to put in place a definitive solution and fight three times in six years to obtain exactly the same result in less reliable, more dangerous and more polluting. All this to meet the requirements of the Ministry of the Environment: logic?
The materials of the 500 meters of dike will go to the landfill…
Municipalities such as Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac and Pointe-Calumet have obtained exemptions and are now protected. What are the City and the government waiting for to bring such steps to a successful conclusion and protect the citizens and the local institution that is the Club de canotage de Cartierville? Mystery ?
We don’t want to have that Damocles sword hanging over our lives every spring. All the models say it: these events will be more violent and more frequent. Meanwhile, the various levels of government are playing “hot potato” and climate change is not waiting. The big losers in this game are the citizens.