During the deluge of rain from Tropical Storm Debby, firefighters and public works personnel in Harrington made a water rescue on what is usually dry land on Friday, August 9.

According to Fire Chief and Director of Public Works Neil Swail, the department received a call at around 5:45 pm on August 9 of a situation on chemin White where a vehicle had become trapped in about four feet of water on the flooded road and one of the occupants had been swept away.

A couple traveling in their Jeep SUV had gone off the road, which had flooded and partially washed away. The woman in the vehicle had got out to go for help but the current of the floodwaters had carried her about 60 feet and she was holding onto a tree.

Swail said a witness reported the woman had been carried through a culvert underneath the road. When firefighters and public works crews arrived, she was in considerable distress while clinging to the tree.

“She was holding onto that tree for dear life and screaming bloody murder,” Swail said.

The woman had been injured during her ordeal in the water and being carried through trees and brush.

“She had a good knock on her head,” remarked Swail.

Six firefighters arrived to rescue the woman and to remove her husband from the car. Due to her head injury, shock, and exposure to cold water, the woman went to a hospital as a precautionary measure. The man in the vehicle was not injured.

The couple returned to the scene on Saturday, August 10 while a wrecker truck removed the vehicle from the road. Swail said that it was during a conversation with the couple that the woman realized how fortunate she was, because the situation could have been much worse.

“She realized she was quite lucky,” he said.

Swail said Harrington public works staff knew there was a potential for damage to municipal roads due to the heavy rain on August 9 and were out patrolling roads throughout the day. He said an employee had passed by where the woman had been swept away about an hour before the incident and there was eight inches of water on the road. One hour later, the water had risen to four feet in depth.

Road damage and resilience

The damaged section of chemin White in Harrington was repaired and reopened during the afternoon of Sunday, August 11. There was also extensive culvert damage and washouts on chemin de la Rivière-Rouge. That road was eventually reopened with a single lane, but will be closed again from August 20 to 30, daily, from 7:30 am to 5 pm.

Swail said all new culverts the municipality installs under its roads are at least double the size of the older ones. He said they are meant to withstand the once-in-100 years rainfalls that seem to be instead happening every year lately. Swail said municipalities in Québec need to demonstrate that their road construction projects will include plans to be resilient against the effects of severe weather in order to be eligible for local road funding from the provincial government. Swail said new, larger culverts are being installed this year along a 13-kilometre section of chemin de la Rivière-Rouge. He also credited Municipalité régionale de comté (MRC) d’Argenteuil engineering staff for their expertise in ensuring better culverts and road infrastructure are installed in local municipalities.