As the large stock of winter snow melts and spring rain falls, swelling rivers are causing floods across eastern Canada, forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes.
The small town of St-Andre-Avellinin in Quebec province is almost completely under water Wednesday after rising waters from the nearby Petite Nation River surrounded the area.
Officials say a total of 40 homes in the town, located between Ottawa and Montreal, are already flooded and 20 of those homes have been evacuated. Thirty other homes are also at risk. Streets are currently four feet under water.
This has been the highest water levels in the area in the last 100 years, officials say.
For the past whole week, emergency officials in New Brunswick province have been on high alert as the St. John River continues to swell due to continuous rain, threatening homes along its banks.
In capital city Fredericton, there were about 250 people whose homes were completely surrounded by floodwaters on Wednesday. A number of roads are under water.
About 100 people have left their homes voluntarily and more are expected to do so, said Andy Morton, deputy director of the province's Emergency Measures Organization.
Fredericton Mayor Brad Woodside said that a 24-hour emergency center had been set up and beds have been provided at universities for anyone displaced by the flood.
Meanwhile, helicopters and military fixed-wing aircraft are provided by the federal government in evacuating residents from two flood-threatened northern Ontario aboriginal communities. A total of 2,100 people are expected to be transported to southern Ontario.
Eastern Canada was hit by record snowfalls during the past winter. Many regions received the biggest amount of snow unseen in decades.
Source:Xinhua
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