The spring freshet continues in Quebec and Public Security asks citizens to pay particular attention to landslides, while a hundred municipalities are affected by floods, particularly in the regions north of the St. Lawrence River, from the Outaouais to the Capitale-Nationale.
The increases in flows and levels of the rivers following the precipitation of the last few days have flooded nearly 1,500 residences. According to information released by the Ministry of Public Security on Thursday afternoon, around 2,400 residences were isolated.
Adapt to climate change
In Gatineau, 550 people were listed in the City’s disaster register on Thursday afternoon.
“The flood waters should reach a peak by tomorrow and then stabilize within several days,” said Mayor France Bélisle during a press conference.
The main city in the Outaouais was hit by major spring flooding in 2017 and 2019, which resulted in the loss of several hundred homes.
In a press briefing, the mayor was asked if the houses built along the Ottawa River will still be present in “30 or 40 years”.
The mayor offered this response: “We are very attached to a view, it’s a dream to live along a river, but you have to think about it. […]I don’t know if the houses that are there will be able to suffer another 40 floods”.
France Bélisle invited “the whole of Quebec society” to reflect “on the presence of concrete along waterways, on resilient infrastructures, and on how to reclaim the banks correctly”, in a context of adaptation to climate change.
Echoing the call from several large cities for $2 billion in funding from the province for climate change adaptation, she said “the problem is much bigger than us, so the solution is also greater than us”, therefore, all governments must work together to adapt to climate change.
Prime Minister François Legault believes that his government has no leeway to accede to requests from municipalities regarding adaptation to climate change.
This is what he repeated Thursday morning during a speech at the foundations of the Union of Quebec Municipalities, in Gatineau.
Large rivers particularly monitored
A spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security, Joshua Ménard-Suarez, explained that the next few days will be favorable for a decline.
“On the other hand, what we are monitoring most closely in the immediate future is the Ottawa River, Lac des Deux Montagnes, Rivière des Mille Îles, Rivière des Prairies and the river up to Lac Saint- Rock. These are rivers where the decline will be slower to set in, because larger rivers react more slowly. »
Victims find their homes in Baie-Saint-Paul
According to information published by the Ministry of Public Security on Thursday afternoon, 102 municipalities were affected by the floods and several, including Baie-Saint-Paul, in the Charlevoix region, declared a state of emergency in the last days.
At a press conference on Thursday afternoon, the mayor of Baie-Saint-Paul, Michaël Pilote, indicated that 1,065 dwellings or homes and 134 businesses had been affected by the floods.
To those who are still being evacuated, the mayor asked them “not to return until you have had an inspection from the fire department”.
Michaël Pilote also implored the curious to refrain from moving in the flooded areas.
“When you have loaders, mechanical shovels, electricians’ trucks and Hydro-Quebec trucks, if you add several citizens’ vehicles, it becomes quite difficult to work and intervene. »
Mayor Pilote added that the boil water advisory has been lifted and the majority of roads have been reopened to traffic.
The Ministry of Transport asks motorists to “under no circumstances take a blocked road” and to consult Quebec 511 for road conditions.
Monitor landslides
Dry weather is expected in several regions in the coming days, “which will favor an improvement in the situation”, indicated the spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Security, Joshua Ménard-Suarez, who however launched a warning. guard.
“One of the issues that is difficult to monitor and which is a corollary of flooding is landslides, so it is worth inviting citizens to pay attention to their land, if they notice a crack that does not was not present before, or if they actually observe a landslide. »
Residents who notice a landslide are encouraged to contact their municipality.
“Landslides have a behavior that can be surprising, in the sense that you don’t know exactly where it will start, so as soon as you can see a clue, you have to contact the municipality. »
A crack, a bulge in a slope, a landslide and an unusual flow of water in an embankment are anomalies that can precede a landslide.