The water level could rise “significantly” in Montreal in the coming days
Valérie Plante examines the rising waters and the state of a dike with a blue collar from the City of Montreal, in Cartierville.
The risks are real to see the water level increase significantly this weekend in Montreal, especially in the West Island, when warmer temperatures and rain are expected. That’s the belief of climate change expert and MétéoMédia weather presenter Patrick de Bellefeuille, who calls for vigilance and advises Montrealers not to rush to remove the sandbags that surround their properties.
“The thing you have to understand with floods is that they are always caused by several factors,” said Mr. de Bellefeuille straight away. There are three that we are particularly monitoring: how much snow have we received in places, how quickly the weather is warming up and how many millimeters of rain are falling on an area. There is never just one factor in a flood.”
West-first
Warm temperatures and rain are expected this weekend in southwestern Quebec, melting snow and increasing water levels significantly, especially in the Outaouais region. The west of the island of Montreal will suffer the first repercussions of the milder weather.
“The entire Ottawa River basin flows into the Lac des Deux Montagnes sector, directly touching the west of the island of Montreal,” explains Mr. de Bellefeuille. The snow has not entirely melted in the Outaouais region, the mercury will remain above zero even at night and it announces above 10 mm of rain.
“The remaining snow will melt to swell the river, which will then follow its course to the west of Montreal. In this context, the risks of water overflow next week are present.”
The water level relatively stable
For now, in Montreal, a few places are still experiencing high water levels. This is the case in the west of the island, particularly in L’Île-Bizard and Pierrefonds, where dikes and sandbags are still useful today, although the level remains stable.
Water floods a sector of western L’Île-Bizard, near the junction between rue Cherrier and Montée Wilson, according to the Crues Grand Montréal interactive map. The map shows that the flood level is decreasing after increasing during the day on Wednesday.
A sector of Île-Bizard today completely in purple with a level of ;water rated between 1.20 and 1.50 meters. Note that some places in Cap-Saint-Jacques are also submerged, just like near Monk Road, in the upper left corner of the map. Photo: Screenshot, Greater Montreal Floods
In Pierrefonds, the water level is high in the Parc des Rapides-du-Cheval-Blanc sector, where the Deux-Montagnes commuter train line passes to reach the Îles-Laval, Laval and then the northern crown from Montreal. The water level has reached nearly a meter at this location.
The railway line between Rivière des Prairies and Saint-Louis Street in Pierrefonds is near a submerged area. Photo: Screenshot, Grand Montreal floods
According to the interactive map, the water level is stable almost everywhere around the island of Montreal, with the exception of Lachine, where the indications of the level of the water was pointing to the rise Thursday morning.
