Repeated floods, citizens at their wit’s end

Residents of a condo building in the Centre-Sud district are tired of being repeatedly flooded. Thursday, when the torrential rain caused backflows and infiltrations in housing of the building, it was about the fourth disaster of the kind in one year, and the ninth in 14 years.

“It was the aquapark in the parking lot, there were geysers everywhere, and there was a lake in the yard. »

Frédéric Rosin, member of the board of directors of the condominium syndicate of Square Cartier, has drawn features. Prior to Thursday’s episode, there had also been flooding overnight from Sunday to Monday.

Five units on the lower floor were flooded earlier this week and ten on Thursday.

“It’s an incredible stress, it’s unbearable,” he says. Stormy episodes are still announced for the next two weeks, so we are always worried. »

As the building of 160 apartments spread over five floors has not been insured since 2021, due to too many claims, the cost of repairs to be made after each flood must be drawn from the pockets of all the co-owners.

Lawsuits against the City

The syndicate of co-ownership maintains that the backflow problems in the building are caused by the dilapidated state of the municipal sewer system, in the sector of boulevard De Maisonneuve and rue Parthenais, unable to collect all the rainwater during heavy showers.

He also filed a lawsuit against the City of Montreal, in connection with the flooding of September 13, 2022, when several dwellings as well as the garden level corridor found themselves under a foot of water. A class action lawsuit has also been filed.

The bill for the work reached $800,000, financed by means of an extraordinary contribution varying between $3,000 and $8,000 per co-owner.

Still under construction

To make matters worse, housing that had just been renovated, after the damage last September, once again saw its floor covered with water.

This is the case of Melisa Salija’s apartment: on the ground floor, where there is a bathroom and a bedroom, the water has backed up through the shower drain, flooding part of the floor, where the siding had still not been reinstalled. The same scenario repeated itself during the night of Sunday, then Thursday. And before that, there had been another flood on June 16.

“I’m really scared for the storms that are expected this weekend,” drops the young woman, who says she is exhausted by these repeated disasters.

David Cardon and Matthew Henning’s condo was under construction when Thursday’s deluge poured down its downpour. In their home, the backflow occurred through the kitchen sink, which damaged brand new cabinet doors.

“Fortunately, we had decided to put a ceramic floor, with a membrane underneath, instead of hardwood. We waterproofed everything on the ground floor, so the damage is considerably less this time,” says David.

Emergency plan

The co-owners of Square Cartier are so used to flooding that they now have an emergency plan, which they trigger as soon as there is heavy rainfall.

As soon as backflows are reported in the showers or toilets, the pipes are opened under the ground floor apartments, which lead into the underground garage, by placing large bins to receive the water, explains Frédéric Rosin, member of the board of directors of the syndicate of co-ownership.

We also bought sandbags, which are placed at the foot of the doors leading to the courtyard, so that the water cannot seep in. Garage doors are kept closed.

Then the city is called.

Thursday, a municipal truck pumped the water that could not flow into the pipes, on De Maisonneuve Boulevard, as well as in the courtyard of the condo building.

“As soon as they started pumping, the water level went down,” says Rosin. Luckily they came. But as long as there is too much pressure in the Maisonneuve sewer pipe, it will back up. »