2020 flood season: not to worry, says city

With flood season around the corner as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the Ville de Gatineau wants to reassure the population that the situation isn’t as worrisome as in past years.

However, if waters do rise significantly, social distancing measures will force citizens to take matters into their own hands and fend for themselves. During a municipal council special session held on March 26, council adopted a presentation notice for the formulation of recommendations for mitigating the risks associated with flooding for certain parts of the city and rural MRCs. 

Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin explained that the city and rural MRCs in the Outaouais are working to form a partnership to work on the cartography of flood zones in the region, to help the city better mitigate floods in the future. He added that it’s a long-term project that should be ready by next year’s flood season.

In an interview with the Aylmer Bulletin, Mayor Pedneaud-Jobin said that risks associated with floods are very low this year. He added that things could change at any time depending on the weather. During municipal council’s special session on March 31, the Mayor said he had spoken to Hydro Quebec’s representatives the previous day. He explained that flood season is upon us and that the situation is well under control so far. “We’re in a normal flood season and still today, following the weekend rains and the weather predictions for this week, everything remains positive,” he said.

But, in the case where floods do happen, he emphasized the importance for citizens, especially those in at-risk areas, to act autonomously and rapidly to outline evacuation plans and flood-mitigation measures. “In the context of the virus, we won’t be able to take the same actions as last time without putting our citizens and employees in danger,” he said. 

According to Lucerne Councillor Gilles Chagnon, discussions about flooding among council members have not been very significant because the risks associated with them this year are low. He assured us that the city’s administration is constantly in talks with Hydro Quebec and that council will be updated if the situation changes. “Citizens have enough anxiety as it is,” he said. “We don’t need to add more. They already have their hands full.”

Despite not being too worried for what’s to come (or not), Deschênes Councillor Mike Duggan believes the optimal mindset to have this spring will be to prepare for the worst and pray for the best. “We don’t know, three weeks from now, what the precipitation will be like,” he said. Explaining that floods tend to come in two-year cycles, Duggan added that the forecast looks to be in much better shape than last year.

Citizens who are still worried about floods devastating their property this spring are invited to check out the Government of Canada’s designated campaign’s web page: https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/flood-ready.html. 

Flood Ready, the campaign was launched in November of 2016 to help raise awareness on how to mitigate flood damage in communities. The campaign features a variety of quizzes, tool kits and expert advice to help citizens know what to do when disaster strikes.