Intense rainfall hitting southern Quebec over the next 24 hours has already led to damaged cars and event cancellations throughout the province.
Environment Canada (ECC) has issued a rainfall warning for all of southern Quebec as it receives remnants of tropical storm Debby. Some regions, such as Berthierville—Saint-Gabriel in the Lanaudière, are expected to received up to 120 millimetres of rainfall by tomorrow.
There’s a high risk of flash flooding and pooling on roads, according to the government agency. Jennifer Smith, ECC national warning preparedness meteorologist, says people need to be “weather-aware” and mindful of low visibility given the combination of rain and winds of 20 to 30 km/h.
Flooding in Montreal
Transport Ministry spokesperson Louis-André Bertrand says localized flooding due to the storm is mostly affecting Montreal for now. The weather system will continue to track northeast across Quebec through Saturday, bringing heavy rain along with it.
Localized flooding was already taking place in some parts of Montreal on Friday morning, including the Saint-Laurent borough. Bertrand says highways such as the 40, near De la Côte-de-Liesse Road, and 13 northbound were affected. Teams are on the ground to pump water back into the sewer system.
“This is an extraordinary amount of rain,” he said. “So no sewer system can take that.”
Bertrand said the agency focused on cleaning the roads of debris in the lead-up to the storm to facilitate drainage Friday into the sewer system.
The downtown Montreal shelter Resilience is also experiencing flooding, according to a post on X by Na’kuset of the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal.
A spokesperson for Montreal said the city has been alerted to some flooded underpasses as well, noting that the best protection against basement flooding are backwater valves.
The spokesperson said they hope sponge parks and other flood-curbing measures will help Montreal become more resilient to the increasing number of rainfall events.
A total of 70 millimetres to 100 millimetres of rain is expected for the island of Montreal area Friday. The city’s rainfall average for the whole month of August stands at 94.1 millimetres.
“It does taper through the night so that it’s clear of the Montreal region by Saturday morning,” said Smith.
Event cancellations in Quebec City and Montreal
The rainy and windy forecast has led to event cancellations in Quebec City.
Comedy festival ComediHa! Fest is cancelling its outdoor shows hosted by Phil Roy scheduled for later Friday evening.
Music festival Cigale also announced the cancellation of artist Loud’s show, which was scheduled for 7 p.m. at Quebec City’s Old Port.
Strong winds and heavy showers threaten the safety of its stage set-up crew, the festival said in a Facebook post Thursday.
Pride Montreal has also decided to cancel all of its outdoor events Friday, which included its Community Day on Ste-Catherine Street East and drag evening at the Olympic Stadium. The festival’s indoor events will go on as scheduled.