Floods 2019
Mighty Ottawa River roars through Aylmer
If the Ottawa River brought Aylmer to its knees in 2017, this year, residents and organizers were more ready.
Water levels began to rise on April 17 and by April 26 they had reached the same heights as the record floods of 2017. Environment Canada predicts that an additional 20 to 40 millimetres of precipitation could still fall on the Ottawa-Gatineau region from May 1 to May 3.
The military is ever-present in sandbagging and relief efforts; more than 800 municipal workers have been appointed to aid those affected; and countless residents have been working alongside their neighbours in what is once again a solemn demonstration of solidarity.
From April 17 to press time on April 29, the work to protect homes was ongoing. On April 29, a renewed effort to protect Dorion and Côté streets in Deschênes was underway. Homes along the Ottawa River throughout the region find themselves on streets closed off by river-covered streets.
Heading west, in the Pontiac, it is a more serious battle to save neighbourhoods. At press time, entire neighbourhoods in Fort Coulonge were being evacuated. Chichester spent the day reinforcing the main road and a bridge, and the Luskville/Quyon effort was non-stop. The Tim Hortons camp in Quyon was opened to anyone affected by the floods, with twenty-five rooms, each with four beds and plenty of food there. The Canadian Armed forces were deployed throughout the region to aid in the efforts.
