Gasp towns on high alert after more flooding

Water-logged communities across Quebec's Gasp region implemented emergency measures Wednesday as heavy rains continued to fall and rivers spilled their banks.

The worst-hit area, around the town of Gasp, has received200 millimetres of rain in the last three days.

More than 150 people have been forced out of their homes in nearby Rivire-au-Renard, with many spending Tuesday night in an emergency shelter set up by the Red Cross in the community.

More homes were also evacuated in Haldimand, and some people in the York area had to be brought out of their homes by boat.

Lifelong Gasp resident Elizabeth Baird said she had seen many storms and floods, but nothing that compareswith what the community is experiencing this week.

"It's beyond words, really, It is starting to get scary," she told CBC News.

"My niece who lives right door is hollering at us to get an excavator becausethe water is going under their trailer [home], which means it is going to eat out the blocking under it. It's serious."

Flooding stretches across peninsula

The Cascapedia River, which cuts across the entire peninsula, has spilled its banks in several sections. The waters have flooded roads and caused evacuations of homes, particularly in the southern town of Cascapedia-Saint-Jules.

Mayor Pat St-Onges said municipal crews have beenrescuing people whose homes have been surrounded by lakes of water.

"We got them out before we had to use helicopters or anything," he told CBC News.

"We put the front buckets on the loaders and went through the roads with the bucket down [and used] four-wheel drive vehicles behind to bring the people out."

Roadswashed out

Quebec provincial police are advising people to avoid driving. Police say many roads in the region are covered in water, and some bridges are threatening to give way under the force of rising, fast-moving rivers.

Highway 197 linking Rivire-au-Renard and Gasp was closed Wednesday, along with sections of highway 132 near Gasp.

A landslide on Tuesday also forced the closure of Highway 299 north of New Richmond.

On the other side of the St. Lawrence River, on the North Shore, part of Highway 385 near Forestville collapsed.

People looking to find alternate routes to Gasp won't find the train much help travel. On Wednesday night, VIA train service between Montreal and Gasp was goingonly as far as Matapdia because several sections of the track were under water and the water level under several bridgeswas high.

Andr Cantin of Environment Canada says the rain is expected to continue Wednesday evening and then turn into snow.

"Murdochville, for example, is expected to get 15-20 centimetres while along the coast, there will be mainlytwo to 40 centimetres only."

There could be some relief in sight, as Environment Canada is forecasting clouds with sunny periods in the regionon Thursday.