Severe rainfall causes flooding in Montreal, Thunder Bay

Environment Canada reports the rains that flooded Montreal and overwhelmed the city’s sewer system on May 29 had a return period of 1 in 100 years. Close to 47 mm of rain in total fell during a storm that caused widespread flooding of home basements, highways, businesses, streets and subway stations. Of that amount, 44.5 mm of rain fell in a two-hour period and 30 mm fell in less than 15 minutes.

“No sewer collector network would have been able to manage the quantity of water that we saw yesterday,” Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay told a news conference, as reported by CBC News.

Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc.’s adjusters in Quebec and New Brunswick, along with the company’s national CAT team, are currently assisting with the surge of claims resulting from this event.

“Our adjusters are equipped with the experience necessary to act quickly during times such as this,” said John Sharoun, CEO of Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc. “Our contact centre has received hundreds of calls since the storm began and we are well positioned to deliver services to the affected areas.”

Meanwhile, Thunder Bay declared a state of emergency after a rainstorm on May 26-27 unleashed 91 mm on the city in 18 hours, flooding the city’s sewage treatment facility. Seventy-one millimetres fell in the city over a little less than six hours, noted André Cantin, a spokesman for Environment Canada.

A Thunder Bay flood update on May 30 said a special council meeting has been requested to approve a resolution directing the city manager to take all necessary actions to secure financial assistance for city flood victims.

“Discussions are ongoing with the provincial and federal governments and the resolution is required to proceed further with formal requests,” the update says.

Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) deployed its Community Assistance Mobile Pavillion (CAMP) to Thunder Bay after the city was swamped by 91 mm of rain in just 18 hours. CAMP is a national program that provides disaster victims with onsite, quick-response, insurance-related information.