Residents brace for more flooding as Gatineau River rises

Jonathan Brennan had slept a total of eight hours over the previous three nights, but his basement was still relatively dry Thursday morning.

“I have thigh-high water in front of my house,” said the Gatineau resident, standing on dry pavement about 200 metres up the road.

The road, at that point, was actually just part of the nearby Gatineau River, which has breached its banks and is threatening to rise even higher over the weekend.

“Last night a little bit came through, so I had two pumps [going],” Brennan said. “I had one pump, but it wasn’t enough … now I’m pretty OK but it doesn’t have to go up [much] more and I will be completely flooded.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Last night a little bit came through, so I had two pumps [going]," Brennan said. "I had one pump, but it wasn't enough … now I'm pretty OK but it doesn't have to go up [much] more and I will be completely flooded."

Boats were the only way in or out of Brennan’s neighbourhood on Thursday, with weary men and women in hip-waders delivering sandbags, gasoline and other supplies to the hundreds of people who have been fighting back the waters since early this week.

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The residents have watched the river rise at a rate of about two centimetres per hour, covering cars, mailboxes and then pouring into their basements. Some have set up makeshift elevated walkways to navigate around their properties.

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What’s worse, there are three more days of rain in the forecast. Friday is expected to be particularly bad, with up to 50 millimeters falling.

One woman, who gave her name only as Diane, said it was the worst flooding she has seen in decades. She moved into her house, just above the current water line, in 1963.

“We lived through the flooding of 1964 … they’re saying three (more) days of rain,” she said, watching volunteers fill sandbags nearby.

Diane said she’s been satisfied with the response from the city and local volunteers so far.

“They’re working hard … They’re used to it.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "They're working hard … They're used to it."

The city of Gatineau has been updating its main webpage with new information as it becomes available. With the wastewater system overwhelmed by the flood, residents are being asked to cut back on their water use.

Over 220 people in 130 homes have been evacuated on a voluntary basis so far this week. Just over half the evacuees are being looked after by the Red Cross. In addition, 24 pets have been successfully evacuated, including dogs, cats, a hamster, a ferret and a bird.

Between 4 p.m. Wednesday and 1 p.m. Thursday, more than 12,000 sand bags were distributed, and more than 7,000 empty bags are still waiting to be filled. Another 100,000 bags have been ordered and are expected by Friday, according to city officials.

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“They came, they’re relentless … they’ve been doing a great job for now,” Brennan said of the people, including municipal workers, helping near his home.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "They came, they're relentless … they've been doing a great job for now," Brennan said of the people, including municipal workers, helping near his home.

“The only problem is getting the bags here from the city warehouses.”

When the water recedes, he said, he’d like the city to look into how it handled the intake and output from nearby reservoirs in advance of the flood.

“I think there’s a management problem with the reservoirs,” he said. “I don’t know if they opened the dams too big, not enough. Maybe they should have done it earlier in the year? I dunno, still to be studied.”