Chelsea, Que. extends state of emergency for 10 days

The Municipality of Chelsea, Que. has extended a state of emergency called after a torrential rainstorm last week caused severe damage to roads and homes.

"Considering the current situation and the extent of the damage to its territory, at 3:30 p.m. today, the Chelsea municipal council unanimously passed a resolution to extend the local state of emergency across its entire territory for a period of ten days," the municipality said on its website.

A state of emergency was declared on Saturday and was supposed to be in place until Monday morning. That has now been extended until Aug. 22.

All municipal roads are now reopened to traffic, the municipality says, but crews are still carrying out any essential work to repair washed-out bridges and driveways.

After one of the worst rainstorms in recent memory, the community is still hard at work, clearing culverts, repairing washed out roads and rebuilding bridges.

Several people saw their access to town destroyed, leaving them stranded for, in some cases, over 24 hours.

"It's massive. The damage throughout the municipality, it's massive. We have over 20 municipal roads that are impacted," said Chelsea Mayor Pierre Guénard.

"We've been hit with the derecho, tornado in 2022, we were hit with the ice storm in 2023, and now in 2024, we have these flash floods. So, Chelsea residents are resilient, but we need a little break."

Many parts of western Quebec saw more than 100 millimetres of rain as the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby moved through the region on Friday.

That deluge was enough to turn a portion of Chem. Juniper in front of Brian Nolan's Chelsea home into a raging river, tearing through his driveway, and washing away the side of the road.

"I came down just to see and to assess, and I saw the Chelsea falls coming down. I said, 'Holy smokes, I think I'm going to lose the whole driveway!" he told CTV News.

"We saw a few neighbours out here looking as well and we just went, 'Hey, nothing we can do. Just let it happen.' Even if you tried to reroute the water, there's no point. Water was coming from everywhere. The current was so strong. You could hear all the rocks and all the noise coming down."

Just over 5 kilometres south on Rue Fleury, four homes were completely cut off from the rest of the community when the only bridge into town was washed out.

Part of Rue Fleury in Chelsea, Que. was washed away following torrential downpours on Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (Francis Dufault/supplied)

Francis Dufault lives along Rue Fleury and was stranded at home as crews worked diligently to repair the road.

"They had the whole thing back up by Sunday midday, at least the one lane so that we could go in and out," he said.

"My wife couldn't go to work on Saturday. She works for City of Ottawa, so she had to call in and say that she couldn't make it."

Municipal crews in Chelsea, Que. were able to restore a crossing on Rue Fleury after it was washed out by heavy rains on Aug. 9, 2024. (Austin Lee/CTV News Ottawa)

One common theme from those living in the area is community support.

From offering to pick up supplies for those who were cut off from town, to picking up tools to help repair driveways and culverts, there are many stories of neighbours lending a hand.

"That's what you'd expect from neighborhood like this. Everybody's been really nice," said Dufault.

Residents have also been singing the praises of municipal workers who have been quick to respond to some of the most impacted roads, some of which had already been fully reconstructed within the last ten years.

"As a municipality, we want to go forward, but now we have to go back and redo exactly the same work that was done in the past ten years," said the Guénard.

"Even River Road, the latest road that we did last year, it has been heavily damaged also on the shoulders of the road. So, it is a huge impact."

The mayor of Chelsea says crews are now working to determine an estimate when it comes to the total cost of the damage, but in the meantime, he has already called on the provincial and federal governments for financial support.

"It's too much of a burden for Chelsea alone. We don't have the capacity to redo all of the work with our municipal budget," he said. "For sure the province and the federal government needs to step up and act accordingly to help the municipalities that have been severely impacted."

Guénard also praised the municipal workers and contractors that have been working extended hours to get the community moving again.

Gatineau Park beaches, parkways remain closed 

In an update on Monday, the National Capital Commission says it continues to make repairs to trails, footbridges and roads that were damaged or swept away in Gatineau Park after Friday's rain.

The Champlain Parkway is still closed to all visitors between Fortune Parkway and Gatineau Parkway. Pedestrians and cyclists are allowed on Fortune and Gatineau parkways.

O'Brien and Blanchet beaches at Meech Lake and the boat launch remain closed. Shuttle services to the park are suspended until further notice.

The use of hiking trails is not recommended.