Montreal streets keep getting flooded; residents’ despair and bills are growing

Garages, basements and other pieces of property were damaged again in Montreal's Saint-Leonard borough.

Across the city, residents are again looking at their destroyed basements and garages after heavy rain hit Montreal for a second time in under a year, causing major flooding.

East end déjà vu

In Montreal’s Saint-Leonard borough, many homes on Belmont Street were again flooded on Sunday night.

It is the second year in a row that homeowners have seen their basements and garages fill up with water, the street blocked off, and furniture destroyed.

Many on the street had finished repairing and renovating their living spaces from flooding in 2024.

Andre Marunych is one of those who completed basement renovations in May.

The walls in the unit are coming down again.

“We have pumps, and, the other unit, I have three pumps, [and] I have clamps everywhere,” he said. “I had all the plumbing redone underneath the house.”

Regardless, it was not enough to keep the water out.

Tiles, doors and flooring are still piled in May Slim’s garage, as it was meant to be installed this week.

She said when heavy rain was called for in the forecast, her husband got worried.

“We’re still renovating from last year,” she said. “Every time it starts raining, he calls me and I’m like, ‘I was like so optimistic.’ I’m like, what are the odds? Having two major floods in a year? This doesn’t happen. I’m pretty sure I can win the lottery. It’s easier.”

• READ: Montreal storm: First-hand stories of flooding and mayhem

Resident Karim Chemaa said it’s scary because residents do not know if flooding will happen in the coming months or years.

“It could happen another time,” he said. “We don’t know.”

Dorval deluge

On the other side of town in Dorval, drain pumps are still going.

Josée Lanouette’s inground pool overflowed into her yard and then the basement.

“I had some water infiltration through windows, and that was a first. It didn’t happen last August,” she said.

Three streets over, Shanna Kavanagh is cleaning up for a second time since August.

“Five minutes, I had four feet of water in my basement again because we went through this exact same scenario last year,” she said.

Kavanah is worried about calling her insurance company.

“Our premiums are going up, but there’s also a thing that if you make two flood claims in a span of 10 years, then you are no longer eligible for that aspect of insurance, so essentially it won’t be insurable against these storms,” she said.

KBD Insurance president Curtis Killen had tips for homeowners.

“Review your groundwater sewer coverage. That’s the amount that the insurance companies will pay to,” he said.

He also said to wait to clean up until the damage has been documented with photos and videos.

“If they do have the manpower, the claims adjuster’s going to come and they’ll go through it,” said Killen.

Killen said extra claims can lead to an increase in premiums.

“If it’s going to be $1,500 or $2,000 of damage, that happens,” he said. “Your basement, I would think twice before claiming. I probably wouldn’t claim, in fact. But look, if it’s $25,000, $30,000, that’s what the insurance is for. Make the claim.”

Political response

City politicians held news scrums on Monday to speak about the flood response and what is being done to respond to the regular heavy rains that cause flooding.

“Unfortunately, I’m not mayor of Montreal,” said Ensemble Montreal leader Soraya Martinez Ferrada. “I’m a citizen of the east part of Montreal, I’ve been flooded myself four times. I understand the frustration. I understand that when it rains, you want to be there because you’re scared of what’s going to happen to your house.”

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said the heavy rain on Sunday and the rain last year during storm Debbie regularly puts incredible pressure on the city’s sewer systems.

“No system can, in fact, absorb so much rainwater so quickly, despite all the efforts our administration is making to make our city more resilient to this kind of torrential rain,” she wrote on X.

She said the city is investing heavily in adapting to the regular downpours.

“We are moving in the right direction, and quickly, but zero risk does not exist, and this is a new reality to which we must respond,” she said. “Today, my team and I will be at work to assess the situation and assist Montrealers who are affected by the flooding.”

Plante said on Monday that there are dozens of small areas in Montreal, such as Belmont Street, that are regularly flooded and that they are not all the same.

“Sometimes they are very small, it can be just a piece of a street and other places it’s more like a few streets altogether, and for each of those vulnerable areas, the potential solutions are varied,” she said. “What we’re trying to do now is to consider everything.”

She added that some boroughs were more affected than others, particularly in the north of the city.

Those affected can contact 311 for help.