PIERREFONDS — About 30 homes in Pierrefonds have been scrounging for water for the past few days. Taps have become dry to the bone because the pipes are frozen solid.
Betty Connolly, 82, has been surviving on bottled water for the past three days.
“You need water. You can’t do anything without it,” she said.
“I had to go to my friend’s house yesterday to have a bath because how long can you go without being washed?”
The borough blames the winter weather. According to Environment Canada, it’s been the coldest February in over a hundred years.
“We’re doing our best to keep up with the amount of pipes we have frozen,” Borough mayor Jim Beis told Global News.
“We’re prioritizing the daycares, senior homes and the places that need to be prioritized.”
WATCH: Frozen pipes a headache for Montrealers
The phone has been ringing off the hook at City Hall. Employees say they get an average of eight calls an hour about frozen pipes.
Resident Diane Deschamps gave up on calling in and decided to show up in person after being forced to bathe with a face cloth Monday morning.
She’s even considering staying at a hotel, even though the mayor doesn’t expect the problem to last much longer.
“We don’t foresee it lasting more than 48 hours however there are situations that are beyond our control,” Jim Beis said.
“We need to excavate and have some heavy machinery on site and that, sometimes, is why it prolongs the repair time.”
The issue extends past pipes and water mains on the West Island.
In Little Burgundy, city crews have been working to try and thaw the pipes and, after 12 days, residents finally got their water back on Monday.
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