About 100 people were forced from their homes in Coaticook, Que., Wednesday due to rising water levels. (CBC)

Flooding forced about 100 people from their homes in the town of Coaticook, Que., south of Sherbrooke, Wednesday.

The evacuation order was issued at 4 a.m. Wednesday, after heavy rains and large snow melts from surrounding mountains caused the Coaticook River to swell.

Several homes were flooded, but the damages are not yet known.

Most of the evacuees are staying with family and friends, although approximately 20 people bunked down at city hall, according to mayor Bertrand Lamoureux.

"We've got about five or six streets that are closed because the water is on the street at a high level...at about two feet," Lamoureux said.

The mayor said river levels were higher than in 1998, when a major flood hit the town and washed away an historic bridge.

The regional director of civil security, Yvan Leroux, said a section of road is closed to traffic close to where Highway 147 and 141 meet.

Elsewhere in Quebec, officials are keeping an eye on Lake Champlain and the Richelieu Rivier, where rising water levels could also force residents out of their home.