The Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough is officially on high alert for flood season.
Rainfall forecasts for the next few days along with melting snow and ice could raise water levels in the Rivière des Prairies.
The historic 2017 spring floods are still fresh in many residents’ minds. The threat of a similar flood this year prompted borough officials to put in place new measures to protect vulnerable areas.
“We have a plan in place, step by step that identifies the area that are to be affected first and make sure we prioritize our actions,” said Pierrefonds-Roxboro Mayor Jim Beis on Wednesday.
The borough says the measures include placing modular walls in flood-prone areas, the rebuilding of natural dikes and better prioritizing the distribution of sandbags.
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The water levels could potentially be significantly higher over the weekend, said Beis.
Robert Idsinga is one of the lucky residents whose house is above the flooding line, but he says the water can rise fast.
“This time of season I check the water level pretty much every day,” he said. “And in the next few days, maybe two or three times a day.”
Residents like Idsinga hope the borough’s response will be better than in the past.
“I think they are aware that they made a lot of mistakes in the last flood and the people were not very happy,” he said.
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Beis says the borough is ready for the worst.
“We’re learned a lot from the past two years, so we’re confident that in the event of a flood similar to what we had in 2017, we can minimize any damages that may be caused,” he said.
The borough is asking residents to prepare accordingly and to protect their properties in the event of a flood.
— With files from Global News’ Brayden Jagger Haines
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