Quyon residents told to severely limit water use
'Technical problem' at treatment plant, though water remains drinkable
People in Quyon, Que., are being urged to severely reduce their water consumption due to a "technical problem" at their water treatment plant.
The Municipality of Pontiac alerted residents in the western Quebec village to the issue Sunday evening in a post on their Facebook page.
"Due to a technical problem at the water treatment plant, the municipality is asking citizens to reduce to a minimum, even delay, the use of potable water," the message said.
"The water is still potable but limited in quantity."
The treatment plant issue comes as life in the flood-stricken community has slowly started to return to normal.
Nearly 100 people forced from their homes due to a mandatory evacuation order were able to return on the weekend. The Quyon Ferry across the Ottawa River was also up and running again at 7 a.m. Sunday after being shut down because of the flood threat.
The Ecolos and Bourbonnais ferries in the Ottawa-Gatineau area, however, are still not running.
Pembroke waters still high
In its Sunday afternoon forecast, the Ottawa River Regulation Planning Board said levels on the river from Mattawa, Ont., downstream to Pembroke, Ont., will slowly rise over the next few days as water is released from reservoirs in northern Quebec.
Runoff from the melting snow is causing those reservoirs to fill up rapidly, the board said.
In response, the board revised its worst-case peak forecast for Pembroke to 113.45 metres — slightly above the heights hit one week ago, when on April 28 water levels reached 113.38 metres.
From Pontiac, Que., downstream to Montreal, river levels will continue slowly declining but will still remain high for about two weeks, the board said.
Renfrew County, which surrounds Pembroke, held a flood support services afternoon at the Alice & Fraser Recreation Centre on Henan Road in Laurentian Valley Township from 12 to 5 p.m. today for property owners who want to learn more about disaster relief, the support available from the Red Cross and how public health officials can help.
Support centres pulling back
In Ottawa, the support centre in the rural west end will no longer be fully staffed 24 hours a day.
The West-Carleton March Community Support Centre at the Constance and Buckham's Bay Community Centre on Len Purcell Lane has new hours of 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., as of this evening.
While staff and services will no longer be there through the night, the city said the building will still be open for people who need to shower, use the washrooms, charge devices or use Wi-Fi if they call security at the main entrance.
The other two support centres in the Britannia and Cumberland areas are closed.
Ottawa is still asking volunteers to take a break this weekend ahead of the upcoming cleanup.
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Gatineau's donation centre at the back of the Galeries Aylmer mall is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. again today, then closing as was always the plan.
It, and the other donation centre at the central Les Promenades Gatineau mall, are taking non-perishable food items and personal hygiene and cleaning products.
Les Promenades Gatineau's location is open 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today and is also accepting clothing donations.
The city is asking residents not to take apart sandbag walls for now while the water is still very high just in case the weather takes a turn.
It said it may be able to open some closed streets back up later today.
Family copes with 2nd disaster
After recovering from the September 2018 tornadoes, a family of 10 from Honduras is struggling to cope with the second natural disaster to land on their doorstep.
They lost their home in Gatineau's Mont-Bleu district during the tornadoes, which sent three of them to hospital.
"We lost everything," said Francisca Arana while describing the damage to their rented home.
"We saw a lot of blood on the walls, on the floor, on the sofa."
The housing company they rented with offered them a place on rue Riviera in Lac-Beauchamp along the Ottawa River.
But as the floodwaters rose over the last two weeks, Arana and her parents decided to leave that home.
"We left everything there," she said.
The family arrived in Canada more than four years ago after fleeing Honduras due to security reasons. The family did not have insurance.
At the moment, they're living in a two-bedroom apartment.
"We [will] wait for the water to come down to come home, and see if we can get things back. Otherwise we don't know what we're going to do," she said.
"We know we've lost things, but we need to move on … We're not lucky, but we're strong. We'll get up again."