ST. CALIXTE, QC – One man is dead and several communities battered after torrential rains hit Quebec.
Thursday night around 10:00pm a 53-year old St. Calixte resident dove into a drain pipe and drowned. He was trying to prevent his home from flooding by unclogging the drain.
Police were called to the scene as lakes and rivers in the area overflowed.
Neighbours say that at one point the water was knee-deep on the road.
The victim, Marc Gosselin, apparently tied a rope around his waist and dove into the water while his father looked on. When he was attempting to reach the pipe, the rope snapped.
A dive team searched the water Thursday night, and again Friday morning, but the conditions were too dangerous to continue their search.
Police say there was between 400 to 900 pounds of water pressure running through the pipe.
Neighbours say this wasn’t the first time Gosselin had attempted to unblock the drain pipe. It had become blocked in the past, which lead to flooding on Gosselin’s property.
Friends and family of Gosselin describe him as a hardworking man who kept to himself – not the type of man to take life-threatening risks.
St. Calixte is located 80km north-west of Montreal.
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