Residents of Baie-Saint-Paul, Que., face flooded basements, washed out roads and a huge cleanup

Chloé Gosselin didn't sleep much last night. Looking down into the basement of her home in Baie-Saint-Paul, Que., about 100 kilometres northeast of Quebec City, she could see her mattress floating alongside papers and drawings in muddy water.

"I basically had everything in there. That was my bedroom, my son's bedroom, my second sitting room. I had all my valuables, all my papers," said Gosselin.

"It's going to be a lot of work in the next week. Right now it's almost just taking it one minute at a time. So I guess I'm feeling a little bit dazed. A little bit in shock. It's just going to be one hour at a time."

Gosselin's street is among those closed due to flooding after heavy rains swelled river levels across the province on Monday.

She says her home was flooded twice — but it was minor compared to this.

"It got bigger than I've ever seen it," said Gosselin, who moved in 12 years ago.

People in her neighbourhood began spreading word that everyone should move their belongings out of their basement, but Gosselin says she couldn't do it fast enough.

"We did our best," said Gosselin, adding that they had to evacuate her home last night with just a backpack.

"This morning we went to rent a pump because my basement has right now probably like four feet of water in it."

Gosselin first started to notice the river water levels rising yesterday while she was painting in her home. With power out in her home, she says the work will start today to drain her home and deal with the water damage and the thick layer of mud left behind.

Gosselin's neighbour, Chantale Bouchard, also returned to see her home the day after the evacuation order. She said what happened is "just very sad," adding that she had to take all her belongings and her dogs and go to a hotel. 

"We are lucky, there was only a little water in the basement," said Bouchard, looking over at her two-storey home surrounded by several centimetres of mud.

Another resident of the town, Cathy Martin, waded through dirt and water as she tried to check on her neighbour's home because he was stuck on the other side of town due to bridge closures from the rainfall. 

"We're in a town where there is a lot of solidarity so we know everyone will help each other … We're trying to save some personal belongings, some precious items," said Martin. She said the flooding started just after she got home from a trip.