The flooding of the Saguenay region of Quebec was a result of excessive rainfall from July 17-21 when 277 millimetres of rain fell, double the average amount of rain typical for the entire month of July. The Saguenay region is located about 250 km north of Quebec City. The main zones affected include La Baie, Jonquière, Chicoutimi and Hébertville.

Electricity and telephone services were knocked out for tens of thousands of people. A hundred houses and several buildings were washed away. The damage is estimated at approximately $600 million. Around 15,000 people were evacuated from their homes. Seven people were killed in the flood, including two children killed in their sleep when a mudslide buried their house. Deaths as a result of floods in Canada are rare. This has been noted as the worst natural disaster in Canada since Hurricane Hazel in 1954.

In early August, airborne multi-spectral video data of the Rivière aux Sables near Jonquière were acquired by Air Focus of Chicoutimi on behalf of CCRS. The airborne video data has a resolution of approximately one metre. The imagery, together with extensive ground photography serve to document the post flood impact on the environment and people.

This decimated image shows a small section of the river near downtown Jonquière. Bright red indicates areas of vegetation, while the greyish blue areas are non-vegetated: typically paved or gravel surfaces. The river, seen in very dark tones, flows towards the top of the image. The force and level of the water was so great that the river heavily eroded its banks causing whole buildings to crumble (A). The river also overtopped and damaged many dams (B & C) and created whole new channels for itself that did not exist before and have since dried up (D). Newly formed gravel bars can been seen all along the river as light grey patches. A full resolution version of this image is also available (468Kb jpg).