Some of the people whose homes were flooded on Tuesday by a water main have had to throw away everything they own.

"I lost my desk, my computer, also my printer, the screens, also my console video games. My brother he had the bed and all of his clothes. Winter clothes," said Kevin Oviedo.

The student now has to replace everything he owns, all on a tight budget.

"I have a lot of stuff to pay, and now I have to pay this for stuff that I lost that wasn't even my fault," said Oviedo.

Clothes, furniture, appliances, all hopelessly contaminated by a man-made disaster.

Two dozen houses on Bedard St. in Laval's Vimont neighbourhood were flooded by construction crews putting up a sound barrier.

They hit a 16-inch pipe and hundreds of thousands of litres of water gushed out of a water main into a sewer pipe and then into dozens of houses.

Steve Lavigne lost everything including mementoes on his walls. 

"My family photos, photos with my children, it's all gone," he said.

Several residents do not have insurance, and are now regretting that decision.

Oviedo said he and his mother were discussing the fire in Fort McMurray just prior to the water main breaking.

"We thought it wasn't necessary to have insurance, but apparently it's something very important," said Oviedo.

Eighty people are still not able to live in their homes, and it could be six weeks before the buildings have been cleaned up enough to permit them to return.

Laval's deputy mayor, David De Cotis, said some residents may be able to be reimbursed by the city.

"They should, if there's any damage, which I'm sure there is damage, contact their insurance. On the city's website, there's a formal document that they can fill out if there's any damages they want to claim to the city," said De Cotis.

De Cotis said people can also contact the city by phone to make sure their claim is being processed. 

"They can call the 311 service the city provides them, so there's multiple different channels of communications that the city has brought to them," said De Cotis.

Residents will need a list of everything they lost, and they will need to be quick: they have just 15 days from the date of the flood to make a claim.

The city and the contractor who was doing the work are trying to determine who is at fault, with the contractor saying the pipe was not properly marked on city blueprints.