Torrential rains washout roads 

Carl Hager

Tropical Storm Debby remnants caused almost 100 ml of rain to fall in the Outaouais including over southerly portions of the Pontiac. The heavy rainfall of Thursday, August 8, and Friday the 9_, caused culverts to be washed out and localized flooding of basements in the Municipality of Pontiac.

Mayor Roger Larose said, “We had culverts on Elm and Kawartha wash out. The culvert on Kawartha has been repaired and the one on Elm will be done on Monday. Other roads such as Creigheur were also damaged.”

Mountain Road, used by many travelling between Pontiac and Gatineau, was blocked for a number of hours in several spots. The heavy rains caused a beaver dam at a higher elevation to overflow, resulting in a sudden, massive waterfall that surged down the mountain, leading to the washout of Hollow Glen Road in Chelsea. Culverts were simply unable to handle the volume of rushing water. Three municipalities are responsible for sections of Mountain Road, including Gatineau, Chelsea and the Municipality of Pontiac. North Aylmer areas of Cook Road, des Saisons and Perry roads were damaged by rushing waters.

Larose said, “We are getting more and more severe storms, and it is a challenge for us to deal with them. Our aging infrastructure wasn’t made to handle the severity.”

Photo caption: Justin Showler (left) and friend review the destruction caused by the Hollow Glen Road washout in Chelsea, August 9. Showler explained that his basement was inundated with over a foot of water during the storm. 

Photo credit: Carl Hager