The mayor of Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac said water levels in the town were dropping on Monday, two days after water breached a dike.

Authorities ordered one-third of the town's residents, 6,000 people, to leave their homes on Saturday and Sunday.

The water was one to two metres high across dozens of streets between the shores of Lake of Two Mountains and Oka Rd., but Mayor Sonia Paulus said the water levels were gradually dropping.

She said crews had built a temporary dike along 23rd Ave. while they were still at work building another dike on 29th Ave.

Crews were using 32 pumps to drain water from the deepest areas, and Paulus said the water level was low enough that some drains were working.

 

Town had wanted to strengthen dike

Between those two points lies Frayere Park. It's surrounded by an earthen berm which is, at some points, more than 100 metres from the shores of the lake.

A 20-metre section of that dike broke near 26th Ave., releasing a torrent of water into the neighbourhood and flooding dozens of streets.

Paulus said crews have yet to repair that section of the barrier because the waves were too strong.

Paulus said the town had identified the dike as a weak point two years ago and had been trying to get provincial funding to reinforce it, but still hadn't managed to negotiate a response from the bureaucracy.

 

Flood victims in shock

Aerial footage of the area shows water up to the front windows of thousands of houses, and while authorities said on Monday morning at least 27 homes had water inside, but the number was likely to be much higher.

Dave Nault's home was flooded, and he toured the streets of his town on Monday in a boat.

"Your mind sees it and your eyes see it but it just hasn't registered yet. It's unbelievable," said Nault.

"There's four feet of water here. There's people who have been living here for 40, 50 years and they've never seen nothing like it."

He expects it will be months before his house is repaired and in a state where it will be habitable.

"Devastated isn't the word. I retired six months ago. I've been working 48 years to be where I am now and I end up with a bucket of water in the basement. it's pretty tough. but we'll get through it I guess," said Nault.

 

Home visits permitted

One school in the flood zone was closed on Monday, and no bus service was available for people who lived south of Oka Rd.

One man who returned to the area Monday said that he lived 500 metres from the lake and that his house had water lapping at the first floor.

100 police officers patrolled Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac Monday to prevent looting, and were telling residents not to bother trying to go home because it wasn't safe, with lots of debris floating in the water.

However Paulus said she would decide on Monday afternoon if people in some zones east of 23rd Ave. and west of 29th Ave. would be allowed to return home for essentials.

The parts of the town that have not been flooded are under a boil-water advisory.