After a devastating flood forced Ryan Handfield and Alex Peters from their Montreal condo 13 months ago, they were ecstatic to learn their home was finally ready for them to move back in.
The young couple received the long-awaited call at 2 p.m. last Friday while they were out of town, just as tropical storm Debby’s remnants pounded the city with a record-smashing amount of rain.
Five hours later, Handfield and Peters learned their newly renovated basement dwelling was already ruined.
“No one hopes their first year of marriage will go this way,” Peters said through tears, adding she was hoping to finally start their life as husband and wife.
Their home sits on Victoria Street in Montreal’s Lachine borough. Some of their fellow owners in the same condominium building allege the borough didn’t do enough — despite several requests for help ahead of Debby’s arrival.
Robert Lynch was among those who contacted municipal services to ask for preventive measures ahead of potential flooding: additional sandbags and workers on standby to help pump out water. Some of his fellow co-owners called Thursday.
“We don’t know how many times our residents need to lose their homes for the city to finally take action,” Lynch said, adding help only showed up after Friday’s flooding began.
The street is prone to flooding. Aside from the infrastructure for water collection and drainage needing a upgrade, Lynch says water is pushed onto lawns and windows from city buses on the road during minor floods.
On Friday, chest-high floodwaters smashed into garage doors and walls. Residents were hoping for an additional pump to prevent the deluge from entering their homes.
“When the street floods here, we’re not talking a little about water accumulation,” Lynch said. “We’re talking several feet.”
Last Friday, residents from Victoria Street scrambled to save their belongings and bale water out. Lynch was outside for hours in the pouring rain as floodwaters gushed into 11 apartments.
‘Who would want to live here?’
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The last time the building flooded on July 13, 2023, Lynch said it cost upwards of $1.5 million to fix. Some of his neighbours and co-owners were unhoused for a year.
For Handfield and Peters, the previous flood that forced them out of condo just two months shy of their wedding. The deluge cost them upwards of $50,000 in personal expenses and lost belongings. Handfield’s car was also a total loss.
The couple had no choice but to move in with Handfield’s mother as they faced a series of hurdles to rebuild their home: insurance coverage, delayed construction and rising condo fees to help cover the costs to rebuild.
Now, they are living the same nightmare as they did last summer.
“The value of the property is next to nothing,” Handfield said. “Who would want to live here?”
Jay Galang’s family of four had only moved back into their home in March after last summer’s flood. He rushed home in a panic from his nursing job Friday night after his wife called him during the historic rainfall.
With his wife in school, Galang is the sole breadwinner. He expects Debby’s last gasps will cost them thousands of dollars — again.
They are still recuperating from last summer’s flood and he was trying to get back on his feet after a bad year.
“This is too much for us to handle,” Galang said.
‘Too much water’ for pumps to handle, mayor says
The condo owners on Victoria Street are collectively calling on Lachine to act swiftly, saying the current infrastructure can’t handle heavy rainfalls.
They have had four floods, according to Lynch. They spoke to local officials several times prior to the latest downpour, he said.
“What we need the city to do now is fix the drainage infrastructure on this street,” Lynch said.
Lachine borough Mayor Maja Vodanovic said 154 millimetres of rain fell on the area, smashing the previous record of 94 millimetres.
There were pumps to remove the water, but she said “they weren’t working. There was just too much water.”
“We thought we were good,” Vodanovic said. “We had a contract with a truck with pumps and we had our own pump. And we thought we were good, but it was useless.”
The residents on low-lying Victoria Street have come up with an engineering plan to build a wall to keep floodwaters out, she said. It has been tested and it works, but now it’s the city’s hands. Vodanovic said she knew it wouldn’t be constructed before another major rainfall, but if it had “been up this year, it would have saved them from that flood.”
“We want to build this wall with them with this waterproof garage door,” Vodanovic said.
She also says the city will have to address local infrastructure issues to prepare for future weather events, and residents will have to continue to find ways to protect their properties.
The mayor did agree there needs to be better emergency measures, but she said Lachine needs additional help from provincial and federal governments.
In the meantime, condo owners are facing the same mounting stresses as they deal with the fallout from yet another flood.
Galang worries he will burn out from the back-to-back setbacks, saying it has been hard on his family and to find a way to move forward.
“I can’t do this again,” Galang said.