Residents of Île-Bizard are stunned after an island washed up just metres away from some waterfront homes on Saturday.

“It’s big,” said Île-Bizard resident Brad Anderson. “It’s probably a few hundred feet long by [a] couple hundred feet wide.”

High waves are pushing large pieces of debris from the Lake of Two Mountains. And with winds having picked up on Friday night, raising water levels, residents on Croissant Barabé in Île-Bizard are getting worried.

So far they’ve managed to keep flood waters in their homes to a minimum, if not completely dry, with dikes.

“Three inches, and it was just starting to dry,” said Krista Urban, another Île-Bizard resident, describing the water level on her property.

But the waves or the debris they bring could breach the dikes and flood homes.

“The waves are very powerful, so if you have waves that are one foot high, that’ll easily knock down a sandbag wall if it’s not reinforced properly,” Anderson explained.

It’s why neighbors want to build a wave barrier that will protect most of the homes.

“There’s supposed to be a lot of wind coming, so it’s an additional protection,” said Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève mayor Normand Marinacci.

Environment Canada is forecasting 20 km/h winds in the Montreal area for the next two days.

For volunteers, it’s a race against time.

“It is a big area,” Anderson said. “It’s a lot of work and we do need more help.”

Once they’re finished in Croissant Barabé, they’ll see if there are other areas that need similar barriers.

“The city has given us approval to go ahead and do this here. They’re backing us up, they’re bringing loads of sandbags in,” Anderson told Global News.

It’s a relief for residents who went through flooding two years ago. Still, they’re fed up.

“I just want the water to recede and to get on with my life,” Urban said.

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