Dorval residents grapple with flood aftermath, fear future storms

t's been 10 days since the big rainstorm caused flooding across Montreal, and one street in Dorval was especially hit hard.               

Marc Traversy says his house on Lagace near the lakeshore has never flooded before. Now he's cleaning up and tearing down.

"Fans. I got three dehumidifiers there. We ripped down all the walls. The floor is up. Sub- floor too," Traversy said in an interview.

He bought a Tempo to store the stuff he could salvage. Everything else was put on the curb and picked up by city workers.

Dorval Mayor Marc Doret said there is an infrastructure problem that the City of Dorval must contend with.

Doret added that the city is "reflecting" on changes to be made moving forward and helping homeowners know what to do to avoid water in their basements.

"Do they have sump pumps? Are their sump pumps working? Do they have backflow valves? Do they have windows that are too close to the ground levels? All of these things need to be evaluated," Doret said in a recent interview.

Suzanne O'Hara, 72, also lives on Lagace. She said she needed help from the community aide.

"[They] helped me to bring some of the furniture out. And then they're coming back today to help with the rest of the furniture," O'Hara said.

With mould growing in her basement, she was told it was not safe anymore.  

These are now worried about the next downpour.

"Hard to just keep the morale. But I have a roof over my head," Doret said.