Gatineau flood victims watch and wait as water recedes

[guest]

Madeleine Bastien prepares to paddle to her home on Rue Saint-Louis.


There’s a spot on the pavement on Rue Saint-Louis in Gatineau where flood waters meet dry land. It’s here that residents have moored a small flotilla of small craft they use to check their flooded homes.

On Saturday morning, Lorraine Girard and daughter-in-law Stephanie Charron wait for a neighbour to pick them up in an inflatable boat to survey the damage to Girard’s bungalow on rue Adelard, where she has lived since 1977.

Girard left the house on May 3 after the sewer backed up. The flood waters followed. She had returned to the house only once, to grab a garbage bag full of clothes and survey the damage. By that time the water was halfway up to the ceiling in the basement. All of Girard’s pictures and mementos were beyond salvaging.

“Because it came so fast, they couldn’t get the sandbags over there. Last Saturday (May 6) the flood waters were rising at two centimetres an hour,” says Charron. “It’s sad for her. She was trying to sell the house. Now, forget about that.”

Line Joanisse and Denis Strasbourg bought a small rowboat just so they can row out to check on their house in Rue René. “We’re going to use it for fishing after,” says Joanisse.

Madeleine Bastien has tied her yellow kayak to a street sign on rue Saint-Louis. On Saturday, she was paddling to her house to retrieve documents she needs to apply for provincial funding to repair her home.

There’s a car stranded on rue Saint-Louis that local residents are using as a benchmark: on Saturday, the flood water reach the grill. Last week, it was right up to the roof, says Charron.

It might be weeks before Gatineau residents get back into their flood-damaged homes. The Red Cross has collected $3.9 million in Quebec for flood victims in that province; it is assisting about 1,000 of them in Gatineau and 2,900 across the rest of Quebec.

As of Saturday, about 20 Gatineau streets, one-third of those affected by flooding, had been inspected, up from 20 per cent on Friday, said the city. Chemin Fer à Cheval and rue Moreau will both need repairs before reopening, the city said.

A tape measure attached to a fire hydrant on Rue Saint-Louis chronicles the height of flood waters.


“There’s still an enormous amount of work to do,” Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin said in a radio interview. “We need everyone’s help, perhaps even more than during the actual crisis.”

Gatineau has issued a call for volunteers for a “major solidarity cleanup operation” to retrieve sandbags on the properties of flood victims next weekend. “Among other things, volunteers will have to be prepared to do physical work. Keep in mind that the sandbags are soaked, making them very heavy,” said the city, which is dividing May 20 and 21 into four shifts of two hours each. Volunteers are being asked to go to gathering points and will be taken to flooded areas by bus.

The cleanup weekend will be only the first phase of the cleanup. More details will be released later. Urgence Québec has also released a series of tips for homeowners returning home after a flood.

Flood waters reached to roof of this stranded car on Rue Saint-Louis on May 8. It shows how much the water has dropped.


“Within 24 to 48 hours after a flood or as soon as you return home after an evacuation, you must clean, disinfect and dry all objects and surfaces that were damaged by water, in particular to avoid the growth of mould,” the agency warns.

Meanwhile, the City of Ottawa announced on Saturday that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs has initiated the Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians Program to include flood victims in the city. The program offers financial assistance to homeowners, tenants, small owner-operated businesses, farmers, and not-for-profit organizations for costs that are not covered by insurance. It covers only primary dwellings, there is a $500 deductible, and residents who want to apply are urged to keep their receipts.

The city delivered a warning to boaters to treat the shoreline areas of the Ottawa River as no-wake zones along Fitzroy Harbour, Constance Bay, Armitage, Crystal Bay, Britannia, and Cumberland. Waves can breach sandbags and inundate properties in flooded areas. The Cumberland-Masson Ferry was back in operation as of Saturday morning, although it was only accepting light vehicles such as cars and pickup trucks.

The city also residents in flooded areas not to drink or use water until it has been tested and found to be safe. Wells could be affected if the well head is below water level or surrounded by flood water, or if the basement is flooded. Residents who suspect flood water has infiltrated their well or septic tiles are advised not to use tap water or flush the toilet.

Sample bottles for water testing are available at the community hall at the R.J. Kennedy Arena, 1115 Dunning Road; the Constance and Buckham’s Bay community centre at 262 Len Purcell Drive and the Royal Canadian Legion 616, 377 Allbirch Road. Water samples can be dropped off at the Emergency Community Support Centres between noon and 8 p.m. and Ottawa Public Health has arranged for a courier service to pick up samples and take them to the its lab every day.

The city’s well water sample drop off centres will also be accepting water samples every Tuesday across the city. Test results are usually available two to four business days after dropping off a sample.

jlaucius@postmedia.com

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