St-Michel residents still in dark, without water after water main break

About 800 homes and businesses in the Montreal neighbourhood of St-Michel will have no electricity and no running water until Saturday morning due toa water main break early Friday at the corner of Pie-IX Boulevardand Villeray Street.

The borough is asking people without power to stay home Friday evening from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. so that a master electrician can verify the electrical boxes in every building.

"It's just to check if everything is OK. Once that's done, tomorrow Hydro-Qubecwill put on the electricity. But we have to make sure that every house is visited by the master electrician. It's very important," borough mayor Anie Samson told CBC during aninterview Friday evening.

Boil water advisory

The break of the 48-inch pipe causedstreets and basements to quickly flood, forcinghomes to be evacuated and several schools to close for the day.

It also prompted a boil water advisory, which continues to affect75,000 people, including people who live in:

• St-Lonard:the area bordered by the Highway 40, DesGrandes-Prairies Boulevard, Provencher Boulevard and Pascal-Gagnon Street.
• VilleraySaint-MichelParc-Extension: the area bordered byCrmazie,Rosemont, Pie-IX and Saint-Michel boulevards.

People are being asked to boil their tap water for at least one minute before consuming it, or use bottled water instead. The advisory is in effect until further notice.

• More information on boil water advisory instructions from the City of Montreal
• Water main breaks: How do Montreal boroughs stack up?

Several streets wereblocked to traffic:

• The closed-off area is bordered by Pie-IXBoulevard,17thAvenue,JarryStreet and Jean-Talon Street.

Borough officials advised commuters to avoid the areaand said the intersection of Pie-IX Boulevard andVillerayStreet will remain closed at least until Monday while crews work to repair thewatermain.

Water flowed for hours

Montreal police received a callshortlybefore 5 a.m. about water flooding on the corner of Pie-IX Boulevard andVillerayStreet.

ResidentAdnanGhiehsaidhis son woke him up early this morning to tell him water was seepinginto their basement.

"I tried to put up wood to block the waterfrom coming in, but I couldn't stop it," he said."It's upto ourknees."

Ghiehsaid both his sons' roomsare in the basement, and he's hopeful either hisinsurance or the city will cover the damage.

"We have a TV, a computer, clothes, everything is in the basement," he said.

Electricity was cut off in thearea,

Close to 9a.m., water was still flowing from a 48-inch pipe. Workers saidfour valves need to be shut off to end the flow of water.

Lonard-DeVinci Schoolwith the CommissionScolairedeMontralwas closed for the day.An adult education centre in the neighbourhood was also closed.

Firefighters shut off water to the pipe around 10 a.m.

No injuries were reported.

Water-bottle distribution

The borough is distributing water bottles. Residents affected by the water main break can go to3699CrmazieEast on Friday evening from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Theymust provide a proof of address.

Since an evacuation order was issued,city officials took overa nearby community centre, PatroLe Prevost,to provide shelter for people who were forced from their homes.

The centre at7355Christophe-Colomb Ave., between Everett and Jean-Talon, is now an emergency shelter.

All activities at the centre are cancelled until further notice.

People can call514 273-8535, extension 0 for information.