A couple from the West Island are taking the province to court, saying it and the City of Montreal owe them around $130,000 in damages because of negligence that led up to the spring's floodings. They say officials failed to protect them from the gush of water.
Marc-Éric Blanchette and Milaré Turgeon's Roxboro home suffered flood damage after the nearby levee broke. Initial calls for help were not returned, increasing the impact of the floods for them and other residents.
A court paper says that total damages to their property were "assessed in the amount of $120,228.15." The couple recovered nearly $40,000 of those costs, tahnks to the government's financial assistance program. But the couple alleges that financial assistance was not enough considering the fault of the government in amplifying the impact of the floodings to begin with.
The Réseau de transport métropolitain is also named in the lawsuit, since the levee was intended to flow floodwaters down a trench in a rail line owned by the network.
In all, the couple is claiming the full $120,000 in damages sustained to their home, plus a further $15,000 for unrest and inconveniences: the couple say that flooding left them unable to meet customers at home, which impacted their opportunities in their respective businesses.
The civil suit will head to a judge in the next few weeks unless an amicable settlement is reached first.