Under water, again

While the swollen Ottawa River has finally begun to recede, victims who've dealt with flooding before say the worstisn't over. That will come when the adrenaline fades, the military packs up, the waters recedeand they're left with the damage.

Hundreds of people in Ottawa and Gatineau, Que.,faced a hard choice after the devastating floodsin 2017: stay on the floodplain and rebuild thehomes they loved, or pick up and move elsewhere.

Many chose to remain, to use their insurance,disaster recovery aid and/or help from family and friends, and startconstruction.

For some, that work was still ongoingor had onlyjust finished when the waters roseagain this year,two springs later, shattering records kept by the organization that hasmonitored theOttawa River basin for more than a century.

See the Ottawa-Gatineau flooding from above

5 years ago

Duration 1:44

CBC News captured aerial footage of the recent flooding in Gatineau, Que., and Clarence-Rockland, Ont.

Many of those records hadjust been brokenin 2017.

• See how Ottawa River water levels rose this year, compared to 2017
• Photos from this year's flooding

David Proulx in Gatineau's Masson-Angerssector is part of one of the hundreds offamilies hit twice by floodwaters in the National Capital Region. They decided to renovate after what happened in 2017, and finishedthe majority of thatwork only a month and a half ago.

Then, the water rose to about half a metreon the main floor of their home.

"It's discouragingbecause you went through it [before]. You did all the renos, you worked for it, and then you ask yourself, 'Why did I go through all that, why did I work so hard for all this if this happened?'" the father of twoasked the CBC's Hannah Thibedeauon April 30.

"We are tired, physically and mentally, and I think that's the worst feeling right now, is knowing that you still lost the house after all that."

But the idea of leaving noweven after this second flood and grim warnings about climate change and an increasing number of environmental disastersjust doesn't appeal to him.

"I guess we start all over again," he said. "...We have to.I have a family, and family is first, you know? And this is their place."

RenaudArnaud'sfamily made the opposite callin 2017, accepting a provincial government buyout anddemolishing thehome they'd bought only four months before the flooding hitGatineau'sLac-Beauchamp sector,takingthe heavy loss on the new mortgage.

Now, they live in a fourth-floor apartment, far above any flooding danger.

• Should residents be allowed to rebuild in the floodplain?
• Take a 360-degree tour of a fortified home in Gatineau's Aylmer sector

Standing Thursday on the land where his former houseonce stood, Arnaudrepeatedly broke down. When the waters receded two years ago the familyinitially thought they couldstay, but asthe costs grew and grew, they decided to leave.

"Beyond the financial loss, which is significant, it's your home. It's the neighbourhood where we planned to raise our kid, and everything that you dreamed of is gone. You close a chapter of your life, and then you have to move on. So we moved on," Arnaud said.

"And I think it was the wisedecision. When I see the water back again, we probably made the right decision by moving on."

In his family'sexperience, the worst part of the whole ordeal was having to decide what to doonce the waterhad receded.

"The flood is something, but it is the aftermath that, in our experience, was the most challenging."

2019 floods: The week in Ottawa-Gatineau

5 years ago

Duration 3:48

2019 floods: The week in Ottawa-Gatineau

Final tally to come

It will be weeks before the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau have recordedall the damage, and residents and governments have talliedtheirbills. Water levels are expected to remain high for the next two weeks at least, and could even rise againif there's a significant amount of rain, the Ottawa River Regulation Planning Board said Friday.

In Ottawa, 155 homes hadbeen evacuated and more than 1.6 million sandbags had been distributed as of Friday.

In Gatineau, 111 homes had been evacuated, 923 damagedand more than 885,000 sandbags had been distributed as of Friday.

• Transformed by disaster: Gatineau, before and after devastating flood
• A bird's-eye view of the Ottawa River's destructive reach

After the 2017 flooding, the province of Ontarioapproved 108applicationsfor assistance under the Disaster Recovery Assistance Ontario program in defined parts of Ottawa, Clarence-Rockland, Alfred and Plantagenetand Champlain.

In total, the programhas providedabout $3,469,000in those areas for people who couldn't receive other forms of help, such as insurance.

In nearby Renfrew County, 89of 114applications were approved and about $1,725,000has been doled out.

So far this year, the program has been activated for RenfrewCounty, including Pembroke, Ont., and a section of Bolton, Ont. It's expected that more areaswill be added.

As the river rose

The following charts show how water levels rose above normal along the Ottawa River this spring, from Pembroke, Ont., upstream of Ottawa, to Hawkesbury, Ont., downstream, according to data provided by theOttawa River Regulation Planning Board.

Can't see the charts above?Click here for water levelsin Pembroke, Ont., water levelsin Arnprior, Ont., water levelsin Ottawa's Britannia neighbourhood, water levelsat the Hull marina in Gatineau, and water levelsin Hawkesbury, Ont.

Photos