Montreal deals with massive flooding during rush hour last night 

January 29, 2013

Montreal residents were stunned when 40 liters of water came rushing into the streets downtown during rush hour, and city officials are saying that the wear and tear of a water main is what caused the break, according to CTV News. 

The water main is connected to the McTavish Reservoir, and it broke late on Monday afternoon, causing people to wade through water up to the ankles and even up to their knees in some places. When it originally broke, some people got caught up and were sent down hills and streets until it settled down, according to the news source.

Many students and faculty at nearby McGill University had difficulty leaving campus.Firefighters eventually had to use ladders to create bridges to make it possible for some of the workers in office buildings to make it from the doorway to drier land. 

"Police were telling people to go. I asked them if I could get past and they said, "Yeah, just avoid the open manholes," Adam Taylor, who was coming from McGill University, told media outlet.

As a result of the cold weather, the water turned into ice. Chantal Morissette of the city of Montreal recently reported once the first hole was turned off, they found an additional hole, which resulted in much of the water piling into the nearby university and it took a great deal of time to turn off the water entirely. 

"To turn off the water, we have to turn off the pipes in sequence," Morissette told the publication.

According to CBC News, the water main was 88 years old. The employees at McGill University have been working to assess the damage, but the flooding has been quite extensive - so much so, that water was still flowing into the campus on Tuesday morning. 

A number of buildings on campus were closed for classes this morning, but some are expected to reopen by 12. However, it is unknown how much damage these floods made and what the city will have to do to ensure this will not happen again, the media outlet reports. 

Those who want to talk about the recent flooding can make calls to Canada using international calling cards. 

 

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