Pierrefonds couple bid adieu to flood-condemned home of 27 years

It hitClineHardy when she saw her swing crash to the ground as an excavatortore through her little house onDesMaonsStreet inPierrefonds.

"I felt a big pinch inmy heart," Hardy said.

"We thought we'd finish our lives here"- ClineHardy

She and her husband Serge Kelly watched Friday as their home of three decadesinPierrefondswas one ofthe first to be demolished of those condemned by last spring's floods.

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"It's our life, our memories the good ones and the less good ones turning to dust," Hardy said, standing beside Kelly. The heavy machinery behind them ripped through a pile of boards that used to constitute 5366DesMaons.

Though Hardy said she'd come to terms with the loss, Kelly admitted the demolition was especially hard to watch for him.

"Twenty-seven years of work, gone in two hours," he said.

Each piece of wood had meaning

Hardy nodded. She said her husband had worked away at the house throughout the years, that each fallen board had meaning.

"We thought we'd finishour lives here," she added.

While the house is one of the first to go, it was also one of the first to be inundated, sitting on a piece of land Hardy characterized as "a little hole," slightly below water level.

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Hardy and Kelly saythey found out in July their house would have to be torn down, but figured as much well before that.

An engineer who cameby to inspect the houseafter the floods had told them thestructure would have to go.

Residents condemn how city, borough dealt with flood

The couple says they're getting a fair amount from the provincial government for the loss of their home, but condemnthe City of Montreal and the borough ofPierrefondsfor how theydealt with the floods as they were happening.

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Calls for help in the form of sandbags and city workers never came, they said.

Their neighbour and former city councillorRen LeBlancsaid the blockhad to band together in response to the lack of aid from the municipalities.

A group of them would go door to door to check on neighbours. They found one home's electricity hadn't been disconnected andstopped some homeowners from demolishing a wall that could have made the house dangerous.

"The street was under water, completely under water, not just for a few days, for a few weeks," LeBlancsaid.

He said he spoke to a city engineer after the floods and was told"Your street was pretty much a lost cause. We had to go elsewhere where we could help."

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"Well, Idisagree with that," LeBlanc says."There was a lot to do here; the stress, the trauma, the emotion There are still families on this street,five months later, that are living in hotels."

A new chapter

As for Hardy and Kelly, LeBlanc says he could tell it was a tough day, but "they're now building a new chapter in their lives."

The couple were headed for a visit to what they hoped would become their new homeinLesCoteaux, across fromSalaberry-de-Valleyfield, Friday afternoon, after they'd said goodbye to their old one.