Flooding due to spring freshet continues in several regions of Quebec on Saturday. If the good weather rhymes with a decline in water in some places, others remain on the alert.
On Saturday, the Quebec Ministry of Public Security identified three major floods in the province, nine medium floods and nine minor floods. A total of 21 watercourses are also under surveillance.
About fifty kilometers northwest of Montreal, the municipality of Pointe-Calumet, in the Laurentians, is facing a major flood. The small town of more than 6,000 inhabitants is located on the shores of Lac des Deux-Montagnes. According to the MSP, however, the trend is towards lower water levels in this sector.
Elsewhere along the Lac des Deux-Montagnes, the MSP reports a rise in the water level. This is the case in the municipality of Terrasse-Vaudreuil, in Montérégie, and in certain sectors of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, in Montreal. Average floods have already been recorded there.
PHOTO FROM THE CITY OF GATINEAU FACEBOOK PAGE
In the Outaouais, the situation remains tense. The City of Gatineau announced in a press release on Friday that the flooding should reach a peak at the end of the evening and stabilize from the weekend. A decline is expected over the next week.
Major flooding was also reported in Fort-Coulonge, a municipality bordering the Ottawa River, 120 kilometers west of Gatineau. Smaller floods also affect Rigaud, in Montérégie.
Bridges and roads still closed
In Montreal and Laval, minor flooding was reported on Rivière des Prairies and Rivière des Mille Îles, at Bigras Island and the Grand-Moulin dam, respectively.
In these two sectors, the trend is towards a rise in the water level, warns the MSP.
The Île Mercier bridge is still closed as a preventive measure, isolating its residents. Other sections are on Île Bizard or in the west of the metropolis are closed or reserved for emergency vehicles.
The spring flood seems to be stabilizing elsewhere in Quebec, particularly in Charlevoix and Lanaudière. These two regions have been hit hard by major flooding and land subsidence this week.
Moderate flooding of Lake Maskinongé is still ongoing in Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon, in Lanaudière.