Montreal’s fire department is working with public works and Montreal police to contain a water main break in St-Henri that is flooding part of the area.
Firefighters say it will take hours before public works can completely shut off the valve, and water may continue to flow into the early evening. St-Antoine and Brewster Sts. are damaged from the strength of the geyser and will need to be repaved, the fire department said.
Police are blocking off an area bordered by Rose de Lima, St-Antoine and Notre-Dame Sts. and Atwater Ave., according to Montreal police spokesperson Manuel Couture.
Videos on Twitter and Facebook show flooding on St-Jacques and Brewster Sts.
The water main is located at the corner of St-Antoine W. and Brewster, according to Montreal spokesperson Isabelle Poulin. The city says it has not received any reports of flooded basements and firefighters are surrounding nearby Lionel-Groulx metro station.
The metro is running normally, according to Isabelle Tremblay from transit agency Société de transport de Montréal.
Firefighters surround the water main break on St-Antoine and Brewster Sts. in the neighbourhood of St-Henri in Montreal on Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016. The area was partly flooded and the power was shut for nearby residents and businesses.
At the height of the flooding, 7,000 Hydro-Quebec clients lost power, according to Elaine Beaulieu, a spokesperson for Hydro-Quebec. Most of the electricity has been restored to the area, but 1,500 clients remain without power, Beaulieu said. The area of St-Henri receives electricity through underground power lines.
City workers are channeling water and working on a strategy to shut down water valves, Poulin said.
She stressed the area south of Westmount should be avoided.
