Constance Bay residents could be dealing with floodwaters for weeks

Floodwaters recede but worries remain Slowly dropping water levels leave extensive damage behind. CTV's Dylan Dyson reports from Constance Bay.

The flood situation in Constance Bay is taking many different forms as it affects homeowners across the area.

Visibly, encroaching waters have swallowed many houses directly along the Ottawa River.

Across dry roads, some homes sit as islands, surrounded by water with no ways to flow out.

Other homes are dealing with hidden waters seeping up through the ground. Jo-Ann Tremblay is dealing with that exact situation.

Tremblay lives streets away from the Ottawa River. She's experienced flooding before in 2017 and 2019. This spring, she built a berm in her basement to protect her furnace and hot water tank from flood damage.

What she couldn't prevent was the flood waters seeping up through her concrete pad.

"I could not have anticipated that the water would have come bubbling up from underneath where I had the retaining wall to protect the furnace and hot water tank," she tells CTV News.

"The water rose really fast on Friday. I would say about 15 centimetres."

West Carleton-March councillor Clarke Kelly says many homes in the community are without gas, heat, or hot water because of this scenario.

"Constance Bay is made up of a lot of sand, so water does seep through it very quickly," Kelly explains.

"When the river rises, the water table rises with it and there's just no where for the water to go."

He says roughly 80 homes in Constance Bay are being impacted by flooding in one way or another.

"It can be a little deceiving when you drive down Bayview Drive because you look on the water side and see that the water is receding. But also on the other side of the road we have people dealing with a lot of ground water coming up into their basement."

Levels in west Ottawa are similar to those in 2017. Kelly says while waters are receding, it is taking place slowly.

"It is frustrating and it could be several weeks with people in this situation."