'A pain in the butt': Chelsea residents still struggling with storm's aftermath

Chelsea, Que., residents and businesses say they're still struggling to return to normal following last weekend's flooding. 

The western Quebec town has been under a state of emergency since Aug. 10, one day after it was hit by intense rainfall from the remnants of tropical storm Debby.

The emergency declaration has let the municipality repair damage more quickly by giving contracts to construction crews rather than going through the usual council process.

Crews continue to work on washed-out roads and flooded basements. A precautionary boil-water advisory was also issued Friday after the subcontractor that manages Chelsea's water filtration plant reported a low chlorine level, according to a town press release.

All residents served by the municipal water system should now bring their water to a rolling boil for at least a minute before drinking it.

The municipality had previously asked residents to reduce water consumption until the end of August while it repairs damage at the filtration plant.

"It's been a tough week," said Mayor Pierre Guénard on Saturday. "The damage is tremendous for some of the Chelsea owners who [were hit with] a lot of water."

The municipality is receiving money from the Quebec government to help with repairs, said Guénard, adding that it will take weeks to fix up the areas that were damaged.

Much of the municipality is rural, but the central part of the town experienced no major flooding, Guénard previously said.

However, that doesn't mean central Chelsea businesses were left unscathed, with many scrambling to deal with the boil-water advisory. 

"We had to keep all of our clients hydrated, and we couldn't because we didn't have running water. So that's been hard," said Maika Spooner, who works at local distillery and bar Distillerie du Square.

"We had to buy a lot of bags of ice. And it's all of the little stores here in Chelsea, so it's not only us."

Establishments also need to boil water for simple tasks like cleaning tables, said Kim Strauss, one of the owners of Boulangerie Dans Un Village, a bakery on the town's main strip.

"It's a pain in the butt, but we get through it," she said.