Spring flooding: Montrealers warned to pack emergency kits as water levels rise

MONTREAL – Rain is in the forecast this week across Quebec and officials are monitoring lakes and rivers at risk of flooding.

Martin Guilbault with Montreal’s fire department says the city is on alert as the risk of flooding is at its highest since 2019.

That year thousands of residents were forced from their homes in the Montreal area and across Quebec after several rivers and lakes burst their banks.

The fire division chief says northern Montreal residents bordering the Lac des Deux-Montagnes and the Riviere des Prairies are particularly at risk.

Guilbault is also warning residents who live near the water to pack emergency kits that can sustain them for three days in case they need to evacuate.

Several millimetres of rain is expected today in Montreal and more toward the end of the week, while about 25 millimetres of rain is forecasted to fall in Quebec City in the next few hours.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Feature image by iStock.com/Adrian Wojcik