More than 1,500 Canadian Armed Forces troops have been deployed across southern Quebec province to help residents as Canada continues to grapple with flooding across the country.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said in a statement on Monday, May 8 that the rains were the heaviest in 50 years.
CBC News reported hundreds of people living around the Ottawa River watershed in western Quebec and eastern Ontario have been affected. More than 1,500 people had evacuated as of Monday afternoon.
VIDEO: Record water levels at Chaudière Falls. #OttNews #Ottawa #RingDam @ottawacity pic.twitter.com/wOYyzxLAwd
— Hydro Ottawa (@hydroottawa) May 7, 2017
Around 450 troops arrived in Gatineau, Rigaud, Montreal and Trois-Rivieres in Quebec on Saturday and more were deployed throughout the weekend. Marine vessels, helicopters and a Hercules transport plane are on standby for rescue missions and other needs.
Ontario province also requested federal help in the form of sandbags and other supplies. Goodale said the government had located about 250,000 sandbags in military stocks.
On a related note, here's a municipal update on the flooding situation in Clarence-Rockland, just east of Ottawa in eastern Ontario: pic.twitter.com/tc8UTLEGkL
— CBC News Alerts (@CBCAlerts) May 8, 2017
Goodale said the ministry is also watching conditions in New Brunswick and interior British Columbia.
On Monday, rescue workers were continuing to search for a 2-year old girl and a man who were swept away in the flooded Sainte-Anne River in Quebec the previous evening.
The CAF said it was helping local security teams on the ground by distributing sandbags, maintaining traffic, reinforcing dikes and other infrastructure and conducting safety patrols.
The Ottawa River is expected to crest on Monday and more rain and snow is in the forecast through Tuesday in Ottawa and Gatineau.
