Transport Minister Marc Garneau is urging residents not to use drones to capture images of flood zones, warning the recreational unmanned aircraft could interfere with or endanger aerial surveillance and helicopters the affected regions.
"I would encourage people not to be flying their drones around here or any other areas where there's flooding," Garneau said during an update briefing in Gatineau, Que., this morning.
"They may just sort of want to do it out of curiosity, but there are helicopters, there's a Transport Canada plane that does surveillance of flooded areas that flies fairly low. This is not a time for people to put their drones out there unless they have special authorization and a special flight operations certificate."
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Garneau's spokesperson Marc Roy said many videos of the flood zones posted to YouTube were captured using drones. The practice poses a danger to the pilots and aircraft performing critical surveillance and evaluations in the areas.
Don't fly drones in flood zones, Garneau says0:29
Garneau also updated the number of military personnel who will be deployed across the province. Another 460 troops will be dispatched from Kingston, bringing the total number of Canadian Armed Forces assisting with the flood response to 2,300.
"It's an indication first of all of how our military bring a lot of comfort to people who see them. It makes them feel better in these difficult times," he said. "It also shows a strong engagement at the federal level."
Mitigating damage
Many residents have expressed frustration that the military took too long to get there, saying some of the damage could have been prevented if troops had arrived earlier.
Garneau said the federal government responded immediately to the request from the province of Quebec, but said the protocols will be reviewed to determine best practices for future.
"The decision has to be made, how do you deploy to the maximum effect your resources...and that takes a little bit of planning to decide how to do that," he said.
Canadian forces soldiers lay down sandbags to reinforce the highway in Saint-Andre-d'Argenteuil, Que. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)
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