Several Lachute residents were temporarily evacuated from their homes on the night of Monday, May 16. Heavy rains caused the ground to shift, toppling construction equipment and threatening the safety of power and gas lines.
Sewer and road repairs are taking place on avenue d’Argenteuil (Route 327) between boulevard Tessier and rue Grace. The heavy rains during the night saturated the ground and the ground began to shift, according to Lachute Mayor Bernard Bigras-Denis.
“The road started to drop down,” he said.
The shifting street exposed gas mains and a piece of heavy construction equipment fell into a hole. There was also concern that poles supporting overhead power lines could fall over.
Approximately 20 people were temporarily evacuated from nearby homes. Eight were temporarily relocated to the Villa Mont-Joie community centre and the rest went to the homes of family and friends. Bigras-Denis said the construction equipment was removed from the hole. Gas company, Hydro-Québec, and firefighters also were at the site to ensure safety involving gas and electricity.
“It’s stable now,” Bigras-Denis said on Tuesday, May 17.
Due to the ongoing construction work in the area, Avenue d’Argenteuil was already closed to all but local traffic when the emergency occurred.
