Beryl hammers southern Quebec and New England

Record-breaking rainfall from the remains of hurricane Beryl caused major flash flooding in Montreal during the Wednesday afternoon commute. The Decarie Expressway, shown above, flooding once again.

The rainfall warning remains in effect for Montreal through noon Thursday. Thunderstorms may produce another 15-25mm of rain today as the remains of Beryl become absorbed by an upper level low over eastern Ontario

The remains of hurricane Beryl, located in eastern Ontario early Thursday morning, hammered the Montreal region Wednesday afternoon, with a record-breaking 80mm of rain in just a few hours. The rain overwhelmed the sewer systems causing major flooding across the central portion of the city and specifically between the Decarie Expressway and Highway 13.

Highway 40 at Cote-Vertu (Photo: Regina Zorman)

At Trudeau Airport, 79.2mm of rain fell in a few hours, crushing the daily record of 32.5mm set in 1975. We fell just short of the all-time record for July of 87.6mm set in 1880. The event is definitely at the high end of rainstorms for the metro Montreal region.

Numerous roads were closed at the height of the rush hour creating absolute gridlock, and forcing the afternoon commute to last well into the late evening. Highway 40 was under water and Cote-Vertu, as was Cote-Vertu at Begin where several cars sat in water door deep in the intersection.

Many cars were inundated by flood waters and abandoned. The Montreal Fire Department carried out several water rescues. Damage was reported to several homes and businesses as basements flooded, including The Suburban's office building at 7575 Trans Canada. The building was evacuated by the fire department after water, several feet deep, entered the basement. Power was cut and remains out on Thursday.

Catastrophic flooding has occurred once again in central Vermont. Above, a destroyed home in Plainfield, Vermont. (Photo Anna Guber, WPTZ News)

The storm had far reaching effects, with major flooding reported in Vermont once again on the one year anniversary of the historic 2023 flood. Many of the same locations in central Vermont were hit hard. Homes have been damaged and roads washed out.

In New York, dozens of tornado warnings were issued, with three confirmed touch downs so far.

The heavy rain and severe weather occurred after Beryl interacted with a warm front over northern New York and a tropical airmass over southern Quebec. Unfortunately the warm and humid weather, with intervals of showers, will persist for Montreal well into next week.