Torrential rain: nightmare on Colville Street in Châteauguay

Many residents of Châteauguay’s Colville Street had it rough during the torrential downpour of August 9, as their basements became inundated. Three residents told Gravité Media that, over a two-year period, their homes have fallen prey to more than one flood.

Translation  Amanda Bennett

Roy Whitfield, his neighbour Peter and a person who wished to remain anonymous spent several hours clearing water out of their basement.

On the evening of August 9, Mr. Whitfield spotted the rain and went to check on his basement, which had already flooded with a considerable amount of water.

“My son went into the basement, I joined him and it looked like a river on one side of our basement,” he recounted. On the other side, we had to push water for six hours that day.”

Roy Whitfield was also equipped with several water pumps and hoses to bring water to his backyard, which was also flooded.

In two years, he has had three floods, including two “major” ones, he said.

He didn’t seek insurance coverage for the events of August 9, deciding instead to take care of things himself.

I’m angry, enough is enough,” he said in an incensed tone. The city needs to put in a pump and upgrade the pipes on our street!"

It’s much the same for his neighbour Peter, who is “discouraged” by the situation.

Momentoes Lost

As for the resident who wishes to remain anonymous, she had to dispose of several momentoes and belongings linked to her mother. She only recovered a few items, which scarcely covered half of her dining room table, as the newspaper found out on site.

We had six inches of water in our basement,” she said. Last year, on July 13, there was four feet of water [during this other torrential rain episode].”

The three residents told us that two city water pumps on Dunver Street and Philippe Bonneau Park were blocked during the torrential downpour, which didn’t help limit the amount of water in their basements.

Those issues also caused further water damage on August 10, in the case of Roy Whitfield.

Gravité Média tried to contact the municipality for more information on the matter. At the time of writing, no response had been received.

Châteauguay Police

The Ville de Châteauguay reports that the 9-1-1 emergency centre of the Service de police de Châteauguay (SPC) received and processed 866 calls between 5 p.m. on August 9 and 3 a.m. on the night of August 10.

Some of those calls were from neighbouring territories and were redirected to the respective communications centres,” specifies the Municipality. The majority of calls related to high water and flooding were dispatched to the Châteauguay Fire Department.”

“Additional resources were in place to deal with this exceptional situation,” it added.

The Châteauguay Police Department serves the municipalities of Châteauguay, Beauharnois, Saint-Isidore and Léry.