A senior in Montreal saw his apartment fill with water in seconds during yesterday’s violent storm. He barely had time to flee the scene of the crime.
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“It happened so quickly and with such force that my patio door was shattered,” says Donald Wilson, still shocked. The water rose about a meter, he continued.
Donald Wilson saw his house fill with water in seconds during the violent storm that swept across the metropolis yesterday. HUGO DUCHAINE/THE MONTREAL JOURNAL/QMI AGENCY Hugo Duchaine / JdeM
The 79-year-old man has lived in the same basement apartment on rue Workman in the Saint-Henri district for 27 years.
But yesterday he had to spend the night with a generous neighbor on the third floor. “The furniture is finished from end to end. I tried to get some clothes [ce matin]but I couldn’t even find the dresser,” he explains.
PHOTO SUPPLIED BY SYLVAIN BOUTIN
Overturned refrigerator
The water entered his home with such force that it swept a living room cabinet into the kitchen and then smashed his refrigerator and overturned it.
The patio door of Donald Wilson’s apartment was smashed by water during the violent storm that swept across the metropolis yesterday. HUGO DUCHAINE/THE MONTREAL JOURNAL/QMI AGENCY Hugo Duchaine / JdeM
When he saw the huge amounts of water, he thought about turning off the electricity. His accommodation, which is on a hollow road, had already been flooded in 2012. First at his house, then at his neighbor’s who was absent last night. “Only by closing [le courant]”The door to his house is broken,” says Mr. Wilson, who had to flee quickly.
Workman Street in the Saint-Henri district was flooded yesterday. PHOTO PROVIDED BY SYLVAIN BOUTIN PHOTO PROVIDED BY
His whole street was flooded several feet yesterday.
Luckily, his cat Ginger, who was hiding in the bathroom, survived the storm, rejoices the eldest, who found him when the water plummeted a few hours later.
Hugo Duchaine / JdeM
Do you need help
Ronald Wilson, still reeling from the flash floods, is now desperate for a room to rent, fearing lengthy delays with his insurance. He remembers that ten years ago it took more than a week to temporarily relocate him.