Residents feeling helpless after sewers back up in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que.

Homeowners in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que., are callingfor help after Friday's torrential rainled to backed up sewers flooding their basements leaving some with thousands of dollars in losses.

Rick Aquino spent all day Saturday cleaning up and coming to terms with the magnitude of Friday's mess.

His parents have been livingon Roosevelt Street for close to three decades and until Friday hadnever experienced a basement flood, he said.

"Never thought this would happen to us," said Aquino, looking at furniture, appliances and other items spread across the driveway that would be bagged up and thrown out.

A record-breaking 157 millimetres of rain fell on the island ofMontreal Fridayas remnants of tropical storm Debby drenched the southern part of Quebec.

• Chelsea, Que., issues state of emergency after Friday flooding

In the span of 45 minutes, waterfrom both outside and inside the houseinfiltrated into the property and reachedknee-high levels, Aquino said.

He estimated thematerial losses add up to around $50,000 for him and his family. However, when he finally got a hold of his insurance company, it offered him a flat rate of $15,000.

"Nobody wants to do anything anymore. They're not sending any adjusters, they're just saying 'X' number of dollars because you're in a flood zone something that we did not even know," he said.

A few doors down, members of the Singh family sported elbow-length cleaning gloves to try to get their house in order for an upcomingwedding.

"Everything was just floating in water," said Arneet Singh, whosesister is getting married next month.

Her mother was able to salvage her daughter's bridal outfits, but couldn't save everything including the family's photo albums.

"That's probably what hurts the most," said Singh.

UnlikeAquino, they haven't even been able to get through to their insurance company. Every time they call,an automated message explains how overwhelmed the lines are before the call drops.

Singh herself works for an insurance company and said she's reflecting a lot about the future, given the number of extreme weather events happening across the globe.

"Everyone should be, like, putting a preventive hat on at this point," she said.

WATCH|The expensiveaftermath of floods for homeowners:

As homes flood more often, owners are getting stuck with the bill

1 month ago

Duration 3:31

The case of a Chateauguay, Que., man who saw his basement flood in the spring of 2023 is a stark example of how some homeowners are being forced to pay up even when they were insured and prepared for flooding.

'On your own and helpless'

For neighbour Linda Moras, thekey to moving on is accepting that it's going to take some time for her home to be comfortable again.

She went to bed at 4 a.m. Saturday and hasn't even bothered calling her insurance company yet, saying she wants toassess the damagefirst.

"It smells, it's horrible, and then you worry about your health," she said, referring to the sewage water that infiltrated everything.

"You're kind of on your own and helpless," said Moras. "We're not, like, 40 years old anymore, so it's a lot."

WATCH | Floods caused roads to collapse:

Quebec cleans up from remnants of tropical storm Debby

20 days ago

Duration 2:02

After the remnants of tropical storm Debby brought heavy rain to much of southern Quebec, 55 municipalities remain impacted Sunday with eight declaring a state of local emergency. As the cleanup continues, hundreds of people are out of their homes and several roads remain washed out.

The city says residents with concerns should reach out.

"As far as we know, the flood waters were from the storm drains and not sewage," said city spokespersonEftyhia Volakakis in a statement to CBC News.

The city's public works department looked into numerous flooding areas and all those cases were from storm drains, she said.

Volakakis saidcrews worked on Friday to "ensure that drains were working, streets were clear, and [that] traffic lights were functional," and that the safety and well-being of residents remained a priority.