Water levels in flooded areas of Quebec's Montérégie region and the Eastern Townships were dropping on Sunday, allowing people to return to their homes.

The scene Sunday in Notre-Dame-de-Standbridge (CBC)

At least 160 people were forced from their homes early Saturday after steady rains caused the Yamaska River to overflow.

More than 60 of the evacuees live in Cowansville, 100 kilometres east of Montreal. About half of them were able to return by Sunday afternoon to pump out flooded basements.

"Every 15 minutes, I'm taking out 500 to 600 gallons," said Jeff Galipeau of Notre-Dame-de-Stanbridge. "It doesn't stop."

Similar flooding hit the area back in 1945, when water levels were "a bit higher," he said.

Galipeau said he was grateful to see the sun return to a region that has been drenched with 140 millimetres of rain so far this month – 100 millimetres between Friday and Saturday night.

While the evacuation order was lifted in Cowansville, in Notre-Dame de Stanbridge, about 20 people had to be moved from a seniors' residence.

They're staying in a municipal building until it's safe for them to return, said Jean-Pierre Bazinet, a spokesman for the province's civil security department.

 

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