Montreal helpless before Mother Nature
The city of Montreal says there's not much it can do to prevent flooding like the cases we saw over the weekend, after torrential rains came pouring down in a matter of minutes.
"It happens only one time in one hundred years."
And the city's man in charge of infrastructure Sammy Forcillo says such exceptional cases mean their sewer system was overloaded, unable to deal with over 33 mm of rain in just 10-15 minutes.
That flooded about 100 houses and businesses in Anjou, St. Leonard and Mercier.
And while the city's engineers are reviewing measures to reduce future flood damage, Réjean Lévesque, in charge of the city's water system, admits they can't really overhaul the existing system.
"Let's say we want to solve that problem to that extent, we're going to have to double the size of the pipes in the street. And then double and double until we reach the waste water treatment plant, which is something impossible."
Residents have until Sunday, August 17 to make a claim with the city.
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