Quebec faces spring floods

As the spring thaw raises water levels across the province, flood watches have beenissued forrivers in Montrgie, the Richelieu Valley, the Eastern Townships and Central Quebec.

The alternatingcooland warm temperatures over the past few days has led to gradual increases inriver levels, which cancause ice jamsand overflowing.

• Flood fears lead to close monitoring of Quebec's rivers

The Acadia River has overflowed near the town of Carignan because of a 1,500 meter long ice jam, flooding roads and fields.

Evacuations

Two adults and twochildren were forced from their home in Carignanafter being surrounded by water.The familywas moved to safety by a team of firefighters specializing in water rescues.

Firefighters are asking people to stock up on 72 hours-worth of provisions, including food, medication and batteries forflashlights.

In Delson, an ice jam in theTurtleRiverhas causeda 200 cm discharge, andjams upstream on the Acadia River may cause flooding during the day.

A new ice jam has been spotted on the Huron River nearStoneham, where water levels are starting to rise.

In Chteauguay, authorities have startedbreaking up the ice to prevent flooding.

Quebec's Lifesaving Society is asking people to be careful aroundrivers, and for snowmobilers to check ice thickness before going out on frozen bodies of water.

The organization says April is the month whenmost accidentsrelating to ice occur.