The Government of Quebec will financially compensate the several hundred victims of the floods that have upset Estrie and the Capitale-Nationale in the last hours.
This was announced Wednesday morning by the Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, in a Twitter post. “We will quickly implement our general financial assistance program to help affected municipalities and disaster victims,” he tweeted.
Floods are still hitting certain regions of Quebec. We will quickly implement our general financial assistance program in order to come to the aid of the affected municipalities as well as the disaster victims. Thanks to the teams of @secpubliqueqc who work hard!
— Francois Bonnardel (@fbonnardelCAQ) July 12, 2023
This program is regularly used by the Government of Quebec during exceptional weather events, such as an earthquake, a landslide or a major flood. It allows affected municipalities to receive compensation as soon as they evacuate citizens to protect them from a disaster.
Private landlords and tenants can receive a maximum of $8,000 per residence or per unit if they have preventive protection measures in place. A damaged house can be compensated up to $385,000 and citizens who must carry out emergency work can receive financial assistance equivalent to 90% of the “reasonable costs” of the renovations.
This is the same program that was used in Baie-Saint-Paul, in Charlevoix, during the floods that cut the municipality in two in May.
Affected by the rising waters due to torrential rains, the City of Sherbrooke and that of Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval, northeast of Quebec, had to evacuate 330 and 520 residents respectively on Tuesday. On Wednesday, however, the Municipal Civil Security Organization (OMSC) of Sherbrooke closed its emergency measures center in the face of the gradual drop in the water level in the Saint-François River. Most of the victims were able to return to their homes.
In Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval too, some of the evacuees were returning home on Wednesday after the short episode of rising waters.
The government also took advantage of the publication of the Gazette officielle du Québec on Wednesday morning to implement its general financial assistance program for the Gaspé towns and villages affected by the closures of Route 132 following torrential rains in the month of June.