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Some locals are calling it the ‘Forgotten Island.’
While hordes of volunteers, rescue crews and even the Canadian army are rushing to fight back flooding waters in places like Gatineau, Constance Bay and Cumberland-Rockland, a tiny community about a half hour east of Rockland feels abandoned.
On the two-acre island of Presqu’ile, there are 37 residents in 20 three-story housing units, and one rental unit. All 21 units are flooded, according to a resident who snuck back onto the island Sunday to survey the damage. Most are owned by retired couples — seven of the units are occupied year-round. The rest are used as summer homes.
Without warning, or prior civic support, all occupants were evacuated Friday morning.
Rose St. George and her husband, Mike, had just purchased a sump pump, still in the box, when emergency services arrived at 11 a.m. telling them they had 30 minutes to flee as the Ottawa River swelled.
“You’re a bit shocked,” Rose says. “You’re not really listening to what they’re saying . . . then you realize you have to go. So, you go around and pick up a few pieces of clothes, a few t-shirts and then you leave.”
The St. Georges were disappointed at what they perceive as a lack of support from the area municipality of Albert-Plantagenet. Only on Friday, did the residents receive an offer for sandbags, they said, the very day they had to leave. Beyond services, a note of compassion would have helped.
“It was shocking to see that not one council member came to see us until Friday when emergency services told us to get out,” Rose says.
About nine residents were on the island at the time. Five had previously evacuated. Some are in hotels. One resident was in hospital at the time. The St. Georges are staying with their daughter, France, in Orléans.
They moved here three years ago. Mike is retired but helps out at a local farm. Rose works at the Ottawa Hospital, in administration for the department of psychiatry.
“At least I get free therapy,” she jokes.
“We were living on the outskirts of Rockland on two acres of land with a manicured lawn and whatnot,” Rose says. “We left that to move (here) and I’m doubting myself now, believe me.”
This despite what she calls a “million dollar view,” and access to a swimming pool, tennis court and exercise room.
Presqu’ile only became an “island” in the 1960s when Hydro Quebec raised the water levels in the river (via the Carillon dam) to flood much of the shoreline on both banks.
The residents are members of a private corporation that manages the 21 homes. The focal point is the island lodge, a 40-foot-high, 2,000-square-foot log building, a mini-replica of Chateau Montebello across the river. The lodge, which includes four bedrooms, a kitchen and a great hall, was built by the Booth logging company in the 1930s and is popular for parties and family events.
The island has its own water treatment and sewage plants.
Using a “high truck” from a local farm, and a paddle boat, the St. Georges went back onto the island Sunday to survey the damage. They had the keys for all the units, and Rose reports that the flooding is extensive.
“All 21 units have two-feet or beyond of water in their basement,” Rose says.
She wonders if more proactive measures could have limited the damage.
The couple saw fridges and freezers floating in the water, along with food, clothes, tools. Especially difficult for Mike was seeing his father’s precious wooden tool box floating away. Mike is a handyman and has endless tools, modern and sentimental.
The St. Georges have a flood policy and believe most others do as well. The true nature of the damage won’t be known for days. The entire nearby mainland area — the village of Lefaivre — is flood damaged, most of it not as severe as in Rockland.
John Cardin is manager of the Chez Nous seniors residence in Lefaivre, a hamlet so tiny the only depanneur in town closed up shop a few years ago. Cardin drives a Citizen reporter a few kilometres west of Lefaivre over to the only access road for Presqu’ile, a trip that ends abruptly at a red-and-black striped barrier, keeping cars off the flooded Chemin Presqu’ile.
The end of the road into Presqu’ile.
“C’est pas croyable,” Cardin says, surveying the latest flood damage in and around Lefaivre.
Flood water is making a mockery of scenic Clarence-Rockland on the south shore of the Ottawa River.
The usually tranquil Clarence Creek, swollen and brown, seems to leap up at motorists along County Road 17, east of Orléans. Deciduous trees along the river front, just weeks away from being majestic and ripe again, take on the look of aqua plants in the high waters that are menacing even on the south side of the roadway. Away from the river.
Near Plantagenet, a real estate sign advertises a ‘Double Waterfront Lot – build your dream home!’ Just behind the sign, the land is flooded.
wscanlan@postmedia.com
查看原文...
While hordes of volunteers, rescue crews and even the Canadian army are rushing to fight back flooding waters in places like Gatineau, Constance Bay and Cumberland-Rockland, a tiny community about a half hour east of Rockland feels abandoned.
On the two-acre island of Presqu’ile, there are 37 residents in 20 three-story housing units, and one rental unit. All 21 units are flooded, according to a resident who snuck back onto the island Sunday to survey the damage. Most are owned by retired couples — seven of the units are occupied year-round. The rest are used as summer homes.
Without warning, or prior civic support, all occupants were evacuated Friday morning.
Rose St. George and her husband, Mike, had just purchased a sump pump, still in the box, when emergency services arrived at 11 a.m. telling them they had 30 minutes to flee as the Ottawa River swelled.
“You’re a bit shocked,” Rose says. “You’re not really listening to what they’re saying . . . then you realize you have to go. So, you go around and pick up a few pieces of clothes, a few t-shirts and then you leave.”
The St. Georges were disappointed at what they perceive as a lack of support from the area municipality of Albert-Plantagenet. Only on Friday, did the residents receive an offer for sandbags, they said, the very day they had to leave. Beyond services, a note of compassion would have helped.
“It was shocking to see that not one council member came to see us until Friday when emergency services told us to get out,” Rose says.
About nine residents were on the island at the time. Five had previously evacuated. Some are in hotels. One resident was in hospital at the time. The St. Georges are staying with their daughter, France, in Orléans.
They moved here three years ago. Mike is retired but helps out at a local farm. Rose works at the Ottawa Hospital, in administration for the department of psychiatry.
“At least I get free therapy,” she jokes.
“We were living on the outskirts of Rockland on two acres of land with a manicured lawn and whatnot,” Rose says. “We left that to move (here) and I’m doubting myself now, believe me.”
This despite what she calls a “million dollar view,” and access to a swimming pool, tennis court and exercise room.
Presqu’ile only became an “island” in the 1960s when Hydro Quebec raised the water levels in the river (via the Carillon dam) to flood much of the shoreline on both banks.
The residents are members of a private corporation that manages the 21 homes. The focal point is the island lodge, a 40-foot-high, 2,000-square-foot log building, a mini-replica of Chateau Montebello across the river. The lodge, which includes four bedrooms, a kitchen and a great hall, was built by the Booth logging company in the 1930s and is popular for parties and family events.
The island has its own water treatment and sewage plants.
Using a “high truck” from a local farm, and a paddle boat, the St. Georges went back onto the island Sunday to survey the damage. They had the keys for all the units, and Rose reports that the flooding is extensive.
“All 21 units have two-feet or beyond of water in their basement,” Rose says.
She wonders if more proactive measures could have limited the damage.
The couple saw fridges and freezers floating in the water, along with food, clothes, tools. Especially difficult for Mike was seeing his father’s precious wooden tool box floating away. Mike is a handyman and has endless tools, modern and sentimental.
The St. Georges have a flood policy and believe most others do as well. The true nature of the damage won’t be known for days. The entire nearby mainland area — the village of Lefaivre — is flood damaged, most of it not as severe as in Rockland.
John Cardin is manager of the Chez Nous seniors residence in Lefaivre, a hamlet so tiny the only depanneur in town closed up shop a few years ago. Cardin drives a Citizen reporter a few kilometres west of Lefaivre over to the only access road for Presqu’ile, a trip that ends abruptly at a red-and-black striped barrier, keeping cars off the flooded Chemin Presqu’ile.
The end of the road into Presqu’ile.
“C’est pas croyable,” Cardin says, surveying the latest flood damage in and around Lefaivre.
Flood water is making a mockery of scenic Clarence-Rockland on the south shore of the Ottawa River.
The usually tranquil Clarence Creek, swollen and brown, seems to leap up at motorists along County Road 17, east of Orléans. Deciduous trees along the river front, just weeks away from being majestic and ripe again, take on the look of aqua plants in the high waters that are menacing even on the south side of the roadway. Away from the river.
Near Plantagenet, a real estate sign advertises a ‘Double Waterfront Lot – build your dream home!’ Just behind the sign, the land is flooded.
wscanlan@postmedia.com
查看原文...
