The basement of St. James United Church on Ste. Catherine’s street was flooded overnight.
A broken water pipe is being deemed responsible for the flood.
At 10:00 p.m. water began gushing from the third floor all the way down to the building’s lower levels.
The water damaged almost everything along the way, including the building’s floors and walls.
The church’s furnace is now out of commission.
Emergency crews weren’t called until 1:30 a.m. when passerby’s noticed water flooding out of the building – but by then, there was already four-feet of water in the basement.
The church’s Reverend Arlen Bonnar had managed to keep his spirits relatively high, despite the dismal state of the church.
“This is not something we believe anything or God is doing to us,” he said. “These are things that happen.”
A cleaning crew is on site at the church attempting to remove as much water as possible. Teams are also attempting to find a means to keep the building heated while repairs are carried out.
"There's a lot of immediate challenges before us." said Rev. Bonnar. "We're in a situation now where the entire building is at risk because we don't have any heat in the middle of this major cold snap here in Montreal."
