A Baie-Saint-Paul couple had the surprise of their lives when more than a meter of water seeped into the ground floor of their house, causing immense damage in a very short time when the the Gouffre river has come out of its bed.
• Read also – Missing Saint-Urbain firefighters: a body found in the Gouffre river
• Read also – Relocate or rebuild? A reflection on climate change is essential according to François Legault
“The water pump had been working in the basement since the morning, but it often happens in the spring, we are used to it. We decided to go grocery shopping in the early afternoon and when we came back, there was water over the furniture in the living room,” says Madeleine Desgagnés, a resident of Ménard Street.
Stevens LeBlanc/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
The home of M.me Desgagnés and her husband, Marc-André Gagnon, have their backs to the Gouffre River. A large concrete and rock structure surrounds the street on which they live to prevent the river from overflowing directly onto the land of local residents during periods of flooding. What happened on Monday was nothing out of the ordinary, she said.
“This house has been in my family for decades, it belonged to my grandfather before we bought it. I’ve seen floods, but never of this magnitude.”
Against the watch
Upon their return from the supermarket, Mr. Gagnon and Mr.me Desgagnés was eagerly awaited by the firefighters of the City of Baie-Saint-Paul. They told them to pack up for the next few days and leave the place they’ve lived in for 18 years in the next five minutes.
“At first they were afraid that the quay wall [le pan de béton au bord de la rivière] let go under pressure. It wasn’t a suggestion when they told us to get out, it was an order. We were in shock,” explains Madeleine Desgagnés.
Fortunately for all the owners of rue Ménard and of the residences downstream of the river, the concrete wall of approximately 200 meters did not give way under the force of the current. An infrastructure of this magnitude pushed at full speed by the river could have caused major damage.
In uncertainty
The retired lady who lives on rue Ménard met by The newspaper was able to speak with Prime Minister François Legault this morning to share his concerns. She was reassured by her speech on the help that will be offered to the victims who do not have insurance against the overflows of the river.
Stevens LeBlanc/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
“It’s good to see that the situation is taken seriously. We are going to need a lot of help for the rest,” she continues between two cleaning chores, standing in an expanse of mud which was, again on Sunday, the asphalt parking lot of her house.
Mme Desgagnés crosses her fingers to be able to continue to live “in the corner where she grew up”.
Local authorities will have to determine whether the best solution is to renovate the houses affected on the small street or to relocate the victims. A big information meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening.
“I want to go back there, she says, ignoring the growing risks of an event like this happening again. […] We like living here, we love the area, it’s close to everything and we would like it to be repaired.