Areas across the Eastern Townships have been experiencing flooding due to heavy rainfall this week and they are now in the process of recovering from the damage.
Yesterday, the municipalities of Cookshire-Eaton and Sherbrooke both faced home evacuations, road closures, and other damages. The Sherbrooke Record reported that 25 homes were evacuated in Cookshire-Eaton and that the flooding left unpaved roads significantly damaged. According to a press release today from the City of Sherbrooke, 583 addresses were visited in the city for preventive evacuation notices, a total of 458 people preventively evacuated, and 94 calls were received via the citizens' disaster line.
At the other end of the region, the Township of Potton also faced massive flooding resulting in a number of road closures and putting the municipality under a state of emergency for 48 hours.
Cookshire-Eaton is now working on repairing its roads, which can take up several days to complete, while the City of Sherbrooke focuses on cleaning up the damage caused by the flooding. According to the City of Sherbrooke, the level of the Saint-François River has dropped considerably and the Organisation municipale de sécurité civile (OMSC) has lifted the pre-alert phase and closed its emergency measures centre. It will continue monitoring the levels of the river because further rainfall is expected of the next couple of days. The Township of Potton remains under a state of emergency until July 13 with no certainty as to how long it will remain in effect.
“It was obvious on the night of July 10 to the 11 that the river was going to overflow in our region - the Missisquoi North River. One of the most impacted areas is Highwater because the river goes down towards that area,” said Valérie Thérien, director of communications for the Township of Potton. “There’s a small bridge that goes towards the United States border and the [water overflowed the bridge]. People couldn’t really come to the village of Mansonville.”
Thérien added that the water level of the river receded by six to eight inches yesterday, allowing the municipality to re-open the bridge as of today. However, there is still a lot of work to be done.
“There is work being done by the Ministry of Transport (MTQ) and there is a small portion of the 243 road that also needs a lot of repairs. So that will be closed for at least ten days, as I’ve been told,” she said. “But it’s been better since yesterday.”
The municipality’s public works department is currently working on repairing the roads affected by the flooding to ensure that they are safe and accessible for citizens. According to Thérien, “everyone who could work got their hands [involved] yesterday.”
“I know that Chemin Monastère is still not accessible at the moment. That doesn’t affect a lot of citizens, but it is a touristic area so as of now we are asking people not to go to that area,” explained Thérien. “There’s also Chemin de la Mine, which is very close to the old railroad and that is in the Highwater area that is close to the river. Those citizens I think can now come back to Mansonville through a detour, so that’s good. Yesterday, we told people to stay home if they could because that was the most secure place they could stay.”
On how the flooding is affecting people in the area, Thérien mentioned that there were a group of tourists that were forced to evacuate on Monday night from a campground nearby; they were provided shelter at the municipality’s new service centre. There were also two “emergency cases” involving local residents, but both were addressed and the citizens were provided help, according to Thérien. She emphasized that people need to call 911 if they are experiencing an emergency situation and the municipality will ensure that its citizens are supported.
“There was some flooding in people’s basements obviously and our team of fire-fighters is working very hard. The main problem was that a lot of the roads were just in bad shape after so much rain,” she said.
As the Township of Potton remains under a state of emergency, Thérien said she hopes the situation will continue to improve.
“I can’t speak for the decision that is going to be made tomorrow, but I think it’s going well so I don’t think we will have to go under a state of emergency for another 48 hours,” she noted.
For all updates from the Township of Potton on the current situation, visit the town's website.
Update: The state of emergency for the Township[ of Potton was lifted on July 13 and the Ministry of Transport was able to repair the 243 ahead of schedule. The 243 was officially opened on July 13 and the Ministry of Transport is supposed to return to replace a culvert at a later date.
Listen to the full interview below: