Several torrential rain warnings were administered across Quebec on Tuesday, with evacuation notices and states of emergency declared in the Eastern Townships and Quebec City.
Just under a thousand people were evacuated Tuesday afternoon, mainly as a precautionary measure. But the situation stabilized in many areas throughout the day, with no Environment Canada rainfall warnings in effect Wednesday morning.
The Festival d'été de Québec indicated on Facebook that it was cancelling evening outdoor shows as a precaution since weather forecasts suggested conditions could deteriorate rapidly.
Premier François Legault, speaking from the Council of the Federation meeting in Winnipeg, said the government was ensuring evacuees had a place to go,
"We're optimistic that the problems will be resolved fairly quickly," he said.
A Public Safety Ministry spokesperson said the storms caused damage mainly "in a corridor" including Estrie, Centre-du-Québec, Mauricie, Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches.
"Roads that were blocked, roads that were damaged, culverts that broke, these are the kinds of consequences we're seeing," said Joshua Ménard-Suarez.
Hydro-Québec reported numerous outages late Tuesday evening, with more than 62,000 customers affected.
The situation had improved by 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, with just over 33,400 outages reported, mostly in the Outaouais and Laurentians regions.
EASTERN TOWNSHIPS STABILIZING
The large quantities of rain that fell in the Eastern Townships caused the level of the Saint-François River, which flows through downtown Sherbrooke, to rise sharply.
The city evacuated 296 people as a precautionary measure. By the end of the day, the river level had stabilized.
"The brighter weather forecast for the next 24 hours means that most residents (...) can return to their homes," the city's website stated.
"We went from eight feet to 21 feet in less than four hours, which is an extraordinary amount of water," said Stéphane Simoneau, director of the Sherbrooke fire department, earlier.
Such a situation in the middle of summer "is unheard of," added Sherbrooke mayor Évelyne Beaudin at a press briefing in the rain on Tuesday morning.
"We used to be able to have a model, an intervention recipe" that predicted the increase in the river's water level based on rainfall amounts, but now "we're finding that our models are less consistent" due to climate change, Beaudin added.
Authorities reported that Sherbrooke's Île-Marie campground, located on the banks of the Saint-François River, and the municipal garage were evacuated. Some roads were closed to traffic.
Environment Canada said that such precipitation, combined with previous rainfall, was unusually high and could cause flash flooding, landslides and water accumulation on roads.
Homes were also evacuated in Eastman Tuesday, with municipal services identifying multiple impassable roads and highways.
Road closures and evacuations also took place in Cookshire-Eaton, while municipalities such as Potton, where Route 243 is closed, declared a state of emergency.
EVACUATIONS IN QUEBEC CITY
Heavy rainfall in the Capitale-Nationale region since Monday, combined with Tuesday's precipitation, prompted municipal authorities to take action.
In Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval, near Quebec City, 520 people were evacuated, and Mayor France Fortier has declared a "state of local emergency" due to flooding on the Montmorency River.
Officials maintained the evacuation notice overnight and said it would be reassessed on Wednesday.
On Tuesday afternoon, the municipality of Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury evacuated certain sectors due to rising water levels. Nevertheless, the town announced the closure of its reception center in the late afternoon, as "the worst seems to be behind us for the sector."
In Quebec City, on Tuesday, the fire department carried out a mandatory evacuation of some twenty homes in the Trois-Saults street area, also due to the water level of the Montmorency River, which has exceeded its flood threshold.
The flooding caused road closures in the region, including Route 369 in Saint-Raymond and Route 367 in Lévis. In Saint-Raymond, part of Rang Saguenay was washed away by the rain.
In Charlevoix, the Rivière du Gouffre, which burst its banks and caused major damage last May, once again caused "major flooding" upstream of the bridge in the village of Saint-Urbain.
By mid-afternoon, however, the water level in the river was dropping, with public safety authorities considering it to be "minor flooding" by late afternoon.
RISK OF LANDSLIDES
As is currently the case, the risk of landslides increases when soils are waterlogged, warns Public Safety Ministry spokesperson Joshua Ménard-Suarez.
"It's insidious, because it's hard to know where it might manifest, when and how big it might get," he said.
Public Safety is asking the public to be vigilant and to report any anomalies to municipal authorities, such as cracks or bulges in a slope, a rockfall, or unusual water flow down an embankment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on July 12, 2023.
