Flooding hits Vaudreuil-Dorion homes, businesses after skies open up

The skies opened up Monday afternoon in Vaudreuil-Dorion with more than 60 millimetres of rain falling in less than an hour, causing minor flooding in homes and businesses.

Some businesses and homeowners are cleaning up and assessing the damage left behind after the torrential rains.

Videos circulating online captured by drivers caught in the storm show water flooding a local shopping centre parking lot.

Cars can be seen driving through water several inches deep.

According to Simon Legault of Environment Canada, a “train” of severe thunderstorms rolled through the western tip of the island.

“Some weather stations don’t record anything but others nearby record a lot because they received the downburst of showers, one after the other like a train,” Legault said.

The short-lived isolated storm unleashed its deluge in less than an hour, according to Jessika Menard, who drove through the bad weather.

“We really, really realized how bad it was,” Menard said. “It’s just shocking how quick you can have that much rainfall in half an hour.”

Flood restoration companies lined du Manoir Street as multiple basements were infiltrated by the rainwater.

“It started off lightly, then all of a sudden, bang! Thunder and lightning. In my lifetime I have never seen anything like it,” resident Don Alexandre said.

With city drains overrun, the water managed to climb halfway up his garage door.

“I don’t know. It’s just winter time and spring we don’t get flooding. But this year it really came down like crazy,” Alexandre said.

According to Environment Canada, severe and more frequent thunderstorms will most likely become more common in Quebec due to climate change.

“Maybe not yearly or weekly but this is something that we estimate there will be stronger thunderstorms and maybe more local flooding,” Legault said.