It rained so much in Montreal during Thursday’s thunderstorms that sewage overflowed sewers in places and reportedly spilled into the Rivière des Prairies and the St. Lawrence River, prompting authorities to urge caution.
“There are spills of mixed water along the Rivière des Prairies and along the river,” said Friday morning Philippe Sabourin, spokesman for the City of Montreal.
Montrealers had to contend Thursday with major storms that brought the equivalent of a month of rain in the space of two hours.
“There is not a city in the world that has the infrastructure to take all that water,” said Mr. Sabourin.
The city’s rainwater drainage system is designed the same way as a bathtub, he illustrated. “When there is too much water, the surplus is automatically spilled.”
“Our network is capable of taking 88 cubic meters of water per second. One cubic meter of water is like eight one-liter water bottles. So 88 times 1,000 bottles of water per second is major,” added the spokesperson in an interview with LCN.
The flow was even sometimes higher in certain sectors of the city. At the corner of De Lorimier Avenue and Ontario Street, a peak of 145 mm per hour was recorded.
The City of Montreal has therefore asked citizens to avoid sports involving direct contact with water for the next 48 hours.
- Listen to the interview with Patrick de Bellefeuille, weather presenter at MétéoMédia and expert in climate change, via QUB-radio:
Flooded roads and houses
Nearly a dozen overpasses were closed as drivers found themselves completely stuck in the water with their vehicles.
“Today, on the network, it circulates well,” however reassured Mr. Sabourin.
Road infrastructures are not the only ones to have taken a hit during the storm. According to the spokesperson, more than 130 Montreal residences were also flooded.
Nearly 130 trees and 300 branches gave way under the weight of the storm across the city. “Nothing comparable to the April ice storm,” however, recalled Mr. Sabourin.
A never-before-seen tornado warning
This was the first time that Montreal faced a tornado warning. This was issued Thursday afternoon, some time after a tornado struck near Ottawa.
- Listen to the interview with Philippe Sabourin, spokesperson for the City of Montreal, on the Alexandre Dubé show via QUB-radio:
“We will have to collectively develop reflexes,” said the spokesperson.
He particularly mentioned the citizens who have swimming pools filled with water during storms.
“In the middle of a flood, we use the backwash, the pool is emptied during the storm. It would be great if we could wait until the next day, give the City a chance to recover as much water as possible.