Some residents of the Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce area in Montreal filed a lawsuit against the city of Montreal and the municipality located above their homes that were flooded last summer.

The plaintiffs claim that the city and the municipality wrongly blame climate change for the damages and neglect to carry out the necessary repairs on the sewage system.

On July 13, the Canadian Environmental Agency reported heavy rainfall in Montreal, after between 50 to 100 mm of rain fell on the city in a few hours, and the storm led to the closure of many roads and tunnels and flooded homes.

The plaintiffs are seeking compensation of tens of thousands of dollars for each resident, but above all, they demand urgent repairs within the next six months.

Ilana Grostiern's basement, one of the plaintiffs, was flooded during the storm, and she estimates that the damages will cost about $50,000.

She said, "Water was coming out of the sewers in the basements, from the toilet, from the bathroom, from the sewers." "Everything was destroyed. Everything had to be removed."

Charles O'Brien, who represents the plaintiffs, also filed two other class action lawsuits concerning floods in Lille Bizard and Saint Leonard.

He said, "We lost both cases, but the city did the necessary work, and this is a victory for the residents who were not flooded again."

Residents of the Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce area sent about 130 letters to the city regarding the floods on July 13, according to court documents.

The city administration declined to comment on the class action because it said the case is before the courts.