Military dispatched to Gatineau as flood threat looms

Soldiers arrivedin Gatineau Saturday night to deal with a looming flood threat caused by rising waters on the Ottawa River.

Approximately 140 troops from CFB Valcartier will be stationed in the city, along with 10 armoured vehicles and 20 other military vehicles, according to tionne Dion, a militarypublic affairs officer.

They arrived after 9 p.m.

The soldiers were deployed across the Outaouaison Sunday morning, Dion told Radio-Canada.

Three Outaouais communities Pontiac, Val-des-Monts, and Saint-Andr-Avellin have already declared emergencies due to the flood threat.

In Pontiac, one woman died Friday in a crash after a rural road washed out.

• Pontiac 'deeply saddened' after road washout leads to woman's death

Earlier Saturday, Brig.-Gen.Jennie Carignantold anews conference that the military hadidentified priority areas in the province where troopswould be deployed to help.

She said 200 peoplewill be deployedin Gatineau and Trois Rivires Saturday evening.

By midday Sunday,Carignansaid another wave of troops would be sent out, for a total of around 600 peopleon the ground inTrois Rivires, Laval, and Gatineau.

"We can support the population in more isolated areas, where we will try to get people out ofbad situations due tothe rising water," said Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Bertrandin a French-language interview with Radio-Canada.

Troops were also sent to Gatineauduring the devastating spring floods of 2017.

Victim assistance centre opens

On Saturday, the City of Gatineau also announced it had openeda victim assistance centre at the Centre Communautaire Jean-Ren-Monette.

The centre is open to anyone needing emergency assistance or shelter, with Red Cross officials and city employees there to provide help.

The city also held a second straight "solidarity blitz" Saturday, with more than 500 volunteers filling nearly 18,000 sandbags.

Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobinsaid he was hopeful peak levels on the Ottawa River would be lower than expected, given that there was less rainfall than originally forecast.

Environment Canada lifted rainfall warnings for the region Saturday afternoon.