Segacs's World I Know

Posts Tagged ‘flood’

Has it really been 20 years since the infamous Montreal Flood of ‘87″ that flooded homes, buried cars and turned the Decarie Expressway into a river?

And next year will be a decade since Ice Storm ‘98.

How time flies…

It’s been almost 15 years since the big flood of ‘87, and it seems today we’re getting an anniversary reminder.

The massive amount of rain that is pouring at the moment has turned streets into rivers, underpasses into giant lakes, and forced closures of major arteries causing traffic nightmares all over the city. The Decarie Expressway is closed in both directions, as is the 40 at L’Acadie and the 13 at the Dorval tunnel. Dozens of smaller roads and underpasses are blocked off or impassable. Sirens can be heard everywhere as frantic motorists try to avoid getting stuck underwater.

I skipped my evening plans when I realized I’d never get there, and instead simply drove home – which proved not to be so simple. But now I’m watching the rain from my window.

Visuals to come as soon as they’re available. In the meantime, if you need to be out in this, be careful.

Update: Here are some images from Cyberpresse:

Decarie Expressway

Another of Decarie Expressway

More cars stuck on the Expressway

People had to abandon their cars as the Decarie flooded

Update #2: La Presse has some eyewitness accounts from people who were stuck on the Decarie River – er – Expressway this afternoon. About 15 people had to crawl out of their cars from the windows or the sunroofs. One woman lost her shoes and had to walk barefoot in several feet of water. Another man, with water up to his arms, had to push his car out of the water. People who had to escape their cars were given blankets and coffee in a nearby church. Canoe also reported numerous basement floods in about 150 homes.

The town of Badger, Newfoundland suffered a flood, and the flood waters froze over leaving the whole town under a block of ice. The entire town was evacuated.

Relief efforts are underway to help, and Damian Penny is on top of the situation, having sent the link to donate to the Red Cross appeal around the blogosphere.

I apologize for not posting this up sooner.