(Quebec) Nearly a week after the torrential rains that caused damage throughout southern Quebec, Premier François Legault will visit Louiseville in Mauricie on Thursday to see the damage.
He will be accompanied by the CAQ member for the constituency, Simon Allaire.
About 250 Louiseville residents were affected by the flooding, municipal spokesperson Guillaume St-Pierre said in an interview Wednesday with The Canadian Press.
Surrounding rivers overflowed into fields that could not absorb all the water, he explained.
As a result, water rushed into the basements of residences. Even the municipal arena was flooded, while the drinking water line was broken due to a landslide. It has since been repaired and the water supply has returned to normal.
Teams of municipal employees from the City of Trois-Rivières came to lend a hand in Louiseville to collect debris piled up in the streets by residents.
In an interview with Radio-Canada, Mayor Yvon Deshaies even requested the intervention of the armed forces.
On Tuesday, the government said 14 municipalities were still in a state of emergency.
Rainfall caused by tropical storm Debby reached 200 mm in 24 hours in some places. The regions of Montreal, the Laurentians, Lanaudière and Mauricie were affected, in short a large part of southern Quebec.
PHOTO PETER MCCABE, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Rainfall caused by tropical storm Debby reached 200 mm in 24 hours in places.
At the height of the storm, Friday evening, no fewer than 550,000 Hydro-Québec subscribers were without electricity.
According to Public Security Minister François Bonnardel, a total of 86 municipalities were affected by the bad weather last weekend, but on Wednesday, there were still 34.
There were also 38 flooded homes out of the 2,300 that were hit. There were 464 people evacuated.
In addition, nearly 170 roads were damaged. Highway 13 in Montreal is expected to reopen Thursday morning.
A warning has been issued regarding possible landslides which could occur more often in clay soils.
A crack, a bulge in a slope, a landslide and an unusual flow of water in a slope are anomalies which can precede a landslide.
The Union of Quebec Municipalities (UMQ) has called for more financial support for municipalities to implement climate adaptation measures.
An additional 2 billion per year would be needed for all municipalities, argued Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante.
For Montreal alone, the mayor is demanding half of this amount.
She also apologized for her absence during the storm. Debby.
The government has already set aside more than $5.6 billion for municipalities to improve their infrastructure and combat riverbank erosion.
Some disaster victims will be eligible for financial assistance under the General Disaster Financial Assistance Program, if they meet the eligibility criteria, the government announced.