A person holds an umbrella during heavy rain in Montreal, Saturday, October 7, 2023. Quebec's Public Security Department is reporting "major" flooding on a river north of Montreal after rainfall Friday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
In Quebec, officials have observed flooding on several rivers north of Montreal and in Quebec City following substantial rainfall this week.
In Saint-Jérôme, located approximately 50 kilometers northwest of downtown Montreal, the water flow on the Rivière du Nord exceeded 260 cubic meters per second on Saturday morning, leading the province's Public Security Department to classify the flooding as "major." This marked a significant increase from the recorded flow of just 64 cubic meters per second on the same river three days earlier.
The department also reported "medium" flooding on four other rivers and minor flooding at six other water level monitoring stations across the province, including one along the St-Charles River west of downtown Quebec City.
The majority of the flooding incidents were concentrated in Quebec's Laurentides and Lanaudière regions north of Montreal. These areas experienced rainfall ranging from 30 to 40 millimeters between Thursday and Saturday, according to Environment Canada meteorologist Félix Biron.
In the rural municipality of Chertsey, located 45 kilometers north of Saint-Jérôme, severe rainfall caused part of a local roadway to collapse. This resulted in two vehicles being submerged and approximately 50 residents being isolated from the rest of the town.
According to provincial police spokesperson Ève Brochu-Joubert, the occupants of one of the submerged vehicles managed to escape unharmed. Initially, authorities were unable to locate the driver of the second vehicle, but the individual was later found safe and sound.
Chertsey officials anticipate repairing the damaged roadway by Sunday morning.
