A Quebec resident says her neighbourhood “looks like a war zone” after heavy rainfall and flooding in Eastern Canada forced hundreds to leave their homes.
Andrea Bolle, who lives in Ile Bizard, one of the 130 communities in Quebec that have been hit by flooding, said the crisis is unlike anything she’s experienced before.
“In 1998, we had it bad, but nothing like this, it just looks like a war zone out there,” a tearful Bolle told CTV News Channel.
On Saturday, Bolle said when she woke up at 5 a.m. “everything was OK,” but after rushing to put in another sump pump and stave off a flooding, “too much water came in.”
“We are now (in) two, three inches of water in the basement,” she said.
Bolle said she spent the morning moving electronics and possessions with sentimental value away from the water in her home. Many of her neighbours are “in the same position,” she said. “Everybody’s panicking right now, they’re all rushing and it’s not good.”
Bolle said emergency workers were attempting to bring her more sandbags in an attempt to protect her home’s foundation.
Bolle said she’s had to turn off the main breaker, so “we have no choice but to leave the home now, probably,” she said.
The federal government announced that Canadian Forces personnel are being deployed to help flooded communities in Quebec, which has been hit hardest by a slow-tracking weather system that is also drenching parts of southeastern Ontario. But, Bolle said military aid won’t help much at this point.
“It’s too late now, the damage is done, there’s nothing they can help us with anymore,” she said. “We just need nice sun, and the waters to recede into the river.”
