Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

torrential rains

Water management to cost Montreal billions; city launches public consultation

Water management to cost Montreal billions; city launches public consultation

Aging infrastructure, climate change and population growth are putting significant pressure on Montreal’s water resources. Faced with the magnitude of the issues and planned investments, the city is launching a public consultation on the future of water in its territory. Montreal is wasting too much drinking water, it is dumping too many pollutants into the St. Lawrence River, its aging infrastructure is unable to swallow the ever-increasing quantity of water spilled during torrential rains, and the city does not have enough money to update and adapt its infrastructure related to water management.

Cleaning up after Montreal's storm: floods, fallen branches and power outages

Cleaning up after Montreal's storm: floods, fallen branches and power outages

The city says it wants to create more green spaces that can act as sponges, so water gets absorbed into the ground rather than drained into sewers during rain deluges. Firefighters were deployed to help pump water out of buildings. Sabourin said the city typically gets 90 millimetres of rain in July — meaning Montreal received almost as much rain it usually sees in July in the span of two hours. The city's sewers simply don't have the capacity to hold that much water, he said, explaining the floods. The area south of the downtown core was most affected.

Edmundston residents dealing with damage in aftermath of storm, flooding

Edmundston residents dealing with damage in aftermath of storm, flooding

City officials have said more than 100 residences were damaged because of the storm. Gallant said this detour affects a lot of people in the area. It's a major roadway leading into the city's core. "At least temporarily for now. A lot of people come across here," said Gallant. However, despite the inconvenience, Gallant said he'll do a special garbage collection Tuesday for people affected by flooding.

More than 100 Edmundston households report damage following torrential rains

More than 100 Edmundston households report damage following torrential rains

Julie Gagnon and Hugo Lajoie leaned on the barrier that separates them from their home in Edmundston, N.B. In front of them, a massive hole created by a landslide threatened to swallow up their shed and their house. Thursday's torrential rains forced them from almost all their belongings in the area of Verret Street. They have also been told their insurance does not cover this type of disaster. "I contacted our insurance company for a claim and they rejected it because these damages were not in my contract," Gagnon told Radio-Canada on Saturday while fighting back tears. "I called two or three times and there was nothing to be done. We pay for insurance and we have no help."

Alberta floods: 10 years later

Alberta floods: 10 years later

It’s been 10 years since the historic floods of southern Alberta that were deadly, expensive and resulted in the first ever declaration of a State of Provincial Emergency in Canadian history. Over 100,000 people were evacuated from their homes in communities throughout southern Alberta and five people lost their lives. There was more than $5 billion dollars in damages and 55,000 square kilometres of land was directly impacted by the floods; an area nearly 70 times the size of Calgary.

California storms boost water allocation for cities

California storms boost water allocation for cities

Weeks of historic rainfall in California won't be enough to end a severe drought but it will provide 27 million people with five times more water than suppliers had been told to expect a month ago, state officials announced Thursday. The Department of Water Resources said public water agencies will now get 30% of what they had asked for, up from the 5% officials had previously announced in December. That’s because for the first three weeks of January nine atmospheric rivers dumped an estimated 32 trillion gallons of rain and snow on California. It was enough water to increase storage in the state’s two largest reservoirs by a combined 66%.

Power pole's incredible journey a sobering reminder of B.C.'s devastating floods

Power pole's incredible journey a sobering reminder of B.C.'s devastating floods

A B.C. Hydro power pole from the Interior of the province has washed up hundreds of kilometres away on the rocks of Boundary Bay in Tsawwassen, providing a sobering reminder of the catastrophic flooding that devastated parts of British Columbia two months ago . The pole was spotted on the beach by an off-duty B.C. Hydro employee on Christmas Day.

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