Published August 24, 2024

Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

Every storm eventually runs out of rain, but dealing with the aftermath is not always pleasant.

That is what many individuals in various rural regions of Quebec were facing earlier this month after the remnants of Hurricane Debby swept across southern swaths of the province Aug. 11, dropping record-settings rainfalls that washed out roads and flooded fields.

In all, about 35 municipalities across Quebec were seriously affected by the storm. That included just over 1,500 homes that had been isolated due water washing out roads, while 344 people were evacuated from their homes, according to a statement posted by Quebec Public Security Minister François Bonnardel on the social media platform known as X the day after the deluge.

In addition, an unknown number of homes were flood, with many on the island of Montreal seeing their basements fill with water and sewage overflows.

As the damage reports were compiled, about 150 roads in the province suffered major and minor damage by the storm, while hundreds of homes were left without drinking water.

In the two-day period after the storm, provincial authorities reported 52 landslides had occurred, with many located in Laurentian communities, north of Montreal.

In all, according to Environment Canada, 157 millimetres of rain fell at Dorval airport during the storm, surpassing the previous record of 93.5 mm set in November of 1996, while a whopping 173 millimetres of rain was recorded in Ste. Anne de Bellevue, which not only set a new record, but ranked as the second-highest deluge recorded in the province during the storm.

The most intense rainfall in the province was recorded in the town of Lanoraie in the Lanaudière region, north of Montreal, where 221 mm of rain overwhelmed the tiny municipality of less than 5,000 residents.

Several municipalities declared states of emergency in a wide-range of regions. These included Chelsea in the Outaouais region; Roxton Pond, near Granby; Louiseville, west of Trois Rivières; and several towns in the Laurentians and Lanaudière area, like Rivière Rouge, La Macaza and St. Lin-Laurentides.

In towns like Yamachiche, on the north shore between Louiseville and Trois Rivières, flood waters left the centre of town under water, with vehicles unable to travel its streets.

Many growing areas in a number of regions were flooded days after the storm, with everything from fields of corn and soybeans being partially swamped, to strawberry and raspberry growers reporting losses

It could take weeks, possibly months, for the extent of all the damage is known.

Cutline:

Water in flooded fields came right up to the road in Les Cèdres in Montérégie.

Credit:

The Advocate

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