A Chateauguay mother is completely devastated after her basement flooded with more than five feet of water, causing thousands of dollars in damage that her insurance won’t cover.
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“I had to throw away a lot, a lot of things. I can’t even say how many trash bags I have on the street right now. I threw food, toys, clothes…”, breathes Vanessa Chevalier, still tested by events.
The latter has the impression of living a nightmare since the passage of the ice storm which caused a huge power outage in her city.
Without electricity, the 44 pumping stations of the City stopped late Wednesday afternoon.
Since only twenty of them are equipped with a generator, the water could not be pumped out properly and the heavy rains caused it to back up into the basements.
The 33-year-old mother is one of 250 residences in Châteauguay that have been victims of flooding.
Contaminated basement
To make matters worse, his basement was also contaminated with feces after sewer backups.
“We hadn’t even thought to look at our basement after the power outage. When we went, the water had already risen a lot and the damage was done,” says Vanessa Chevalier.
“We had to manually pump the water to limit the damage in the basement. We did this until midnight, but at some point, we were at the end of it, ”she adds.
Rue Provost, where she has lived for 5 years, is located in a quiet area of the municipality. Since Wednesday, the street has been unrecognizable with the arrival of fire trucks and other emergency services.
“Never have my neighbors experienced anything like this. It doesn’t happen here. And yet, today, many of us have a meter of water in our basements,” laments Vanessa Chevalier.
Significant damage… not insured
In the basement of the family, everything has to be redone. Five feet of water accumulated in the last few days and damaged the walls and floor. Not to mention the pestilential smell.
“It will at least cost me $10,000. And that’s if it didn’t damage my electric furnace. Otherwise, it’s another $10,000,” says the 30-something.
When she wanted to call her insurance, they told her that she was not covered for water infiltration and that she had to turn to the municipality for compensation.
“The thing is, the City tells me it’s not their fault, because my basement didn’t have a valve. According to them, if my house had had a valve, this would not have happened. But I know owners who have them and they have been flooded too, ”defends Vanessa Chevalier.
Citizens of Châteauguay will be able to make a claim within the next 15 days by filling out the form provided for this purpose on the City’s website.
The worst is over, says the mayor
“I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished in the past few days. The citizens and employees of the municipality showed a lot of solidarity. Now, the worst is behind us,” says Mayor Éric Allard, wanting to be reassured.
According to him, the government’s decision to prioritize Châteauguay for the restoration of electricity has completely changed the situation.
“It allowed us to have the necessary staff to operate. We were very worried that the floods would affect even more houses, but in the end we managed to prevent that,” adds Mr. Allard.
In the early evening Saturday, 12 homes in the municipality with nearly 50,000 inhabitants remained without electricity.