{"id":102161,"date":"2017-05-13T00:39:20","date_gmt":"2017-05-13T04:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=102161"},"modified":"2017-05-13T00:39:20","modified_gmt":"2017-05-13T04:39:20","slug":"quebec-floods-situation-stabilizing-but-water-levels-slow-to-drop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/05\/13\/quebec-floods-situation-stabilizing-but-water-levels-slow-to-drop\/","title":{"rendered":"Quebec floods: situation stabilizing but water levels slow to drop"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The situation in flood-stricken Quebec appeared to improve slightly on Friday as the provincial government reported a drop in water levels in some areas and downgraded a forecast for weekend rain. (Photo: VerdeXchange\/Flickr<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MONTREAL \u2014 The situation in flood-stricken Quebec appeared to improve slightly on Friday as the provincial government reported a drop in water levels in some areas and downgraded a forecast for weekend rain.<\/p>\n

But water levels are still expected to rise in the central Quebec region of Mauricie and they remain high in some large lakes, Environment Minister David Heurtel told a news conference.<\/p>\n

He said the Mauricie region will likely get 20 to 25 millimetres of rain over the weekend instead of the 59 millimetres officials had feared earlier this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur models nevertheless indicate an increase (in water levels) but not as large as expected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Premier Philippe Couillard said he was hoping the situation wouldn’t deteriorate over the weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will breathe a sigh of relief on Monday if we haven’t had massive rain and heavy overflow,\u201d he said at the sidelines of an event in Montreal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the meantime, we’re crossing our fingers.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of Friday evening, the province’s civil security department said 4,700 residences had been stuck by flooding and just under 3,900 people have been moved out of their homes in 175 communities.<\/p>\n

The city of Rigaud, west of Montreal, warned that citizens who refuse the town’s evacuation order could face fines of up to $5,000.<\/p>\n

Mayor Hans Gruenwald Jr. said about 19 people have refused to leave their homes and have been notified that they could face penalties.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’re being told something by their community and they have to listen, and if they don’t there are consequences,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n

Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux said that compensation for flood victims will be reviewed and likely increased in some areas.<\/p>\n

He said municipalities that haven’t been affected by flooding would lend technical expertise, human resources and equipment to help with cleanup efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re preparing the recovery phase that will start earlier in the western areas (of the province),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As flood waters continued to recede in Montreal, fire Chief Bruno Lachance warned citizens of the dangers they could face when returning home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are still some risks in the homes, (such as) electrical risks, natural gas, structure,\u201d he said, adding residents should contact the city for help with inspections.<\/p>\n

Lachance said that while the homes closest to the river were still flooded, others were gradually becoming available for homeowners to visit.<\/p>\n

One of those residents, Nick Cai, surveyed the damage as the military-built dike helped drain his street, which was \u201cstill a lake\u201d one day earlier.<\/p>\n

His street \u2014 5th Ave. N. in the Pierrefonds-Roxboro area \u2014 has been in the news because it was badly flooded and residents claim repeated requests for help were ignored.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think from the beginning, for our street, it’s a kind of a tragedy \u2014 it shouldn’t have happened at all,\u201d Cai said.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Cai waited for the green light for electricity to be turned on, surveying the mess that will require professionals to help clean up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s huge \u2014 at least, my basement is finished,\u201d Cai said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome houses, there’s water on the first level so they have to be torn down and rebuilt completely.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ontario government said Friday it has activated one of its disaster assistance programs and individuals and businesses may be eligible for aid in dealing with the effects of flooding.<\/p>\n

\u2014 with files from Morgan Lowrie and Sidhartha Banerjee in Montreal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MONTREAL \u2014 The situation in flood-stricken Quebec appeared to improve slightly on Friday as the provincial government reported a drop …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":102162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1482,18,16],"tags":[19011],"class_list":["post-102161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking","category-news-ca","category-news","tag-david-heurtel","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}