Heavy rainfall expected to increase flooding risks across Quebec

Swaths of Quebec are at risk of flooding in the coming days, as higher-than-usual rainfall threatens to raise water levels.

The Outaouais, Laurentides, Lanaudière and Quebec City regions are most at risk of flooding, said Maude-Émilie Lapointe, spokesperson for Quebec’s Public Safety ministry.

Water levels are also expected to rise in the Prairies River, which runs between Laval and Montreal, as well as in the Mille-Îles River between Laval and its north shore, she said.

Those rivers “will see a rise, yes, but it’s nothing compared to what we saw in 2017, for example,” Lapointe said, referencing the catastrophic flooding that swept across parts of Quebec that year.

Between Monday April 13 and Sunday April 19, Environment Canada is predicting between 50 and 70 millimetres of rain will fall in the Montreal region, close to the 80 millimetres that typically fall in the entire month of April.

“That gives us a lot of rain,” Environment Canada meteorologist Simon Legault said. “If you add to that all the snow that is melting, that’s a lot of water that will certainly raise water levels and give some localized floodings.”

Flood-prone communities in and around Montreal said they were preparing possible responses.

“According to current predictions, water levels in the Mille Îles and Prairies rivers could rise starting Wednesday, with minor flooding risks between now and the weekend,” City of Laval spokesperson Carolanne L. Gagnon said in a statement. “Teams have been mobilized and are continuously evaluating the situation to deploy, as needed, appropriate protection measures.”

The City of Terrebonne, which sits on the northern bank of the Prairies River, as well as Montreal’s Île-Bizard—Ste-Geneviève borough, confirmed to The Gazette that emergency responses are planned in case of flooding.

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