Aftermath of storm in the Laurentians | “Apocalyptic” neighborhoods

Chainsaws, brooms, truck-trailers: it was time for a big clean-up on Wednesday in the Laurentians, where the stormy storm has wreaked havoc over the past few days. In some neighborhoods, the atmosphere is downright “apocalyptic” for residents, who hope to return to normal in the coming days. But they have no guarantees.

Henri Ouellette-Vezina
The Press

“It’s pretty apocalyptic here. Already, today, it is quite picked up in good part. But Saturday and Sunday, it didn’t circulate at all. Everything was at a standstill,” says David Mance, whose mother lives on the Saint-Gabriel coast, in Saint-Sauveur.

It was a few meters away that the president of Hydro-Québec, Sophie Brochu, came to take stock in the morning, to see the extent of the damage. The operation to reconnect to electricity will cost “several tens of millions” to Hydro-Québec, revealed Mr.^me Brochu, arguing however that taxpayers will not see their rates increase. “We are really in a mini-situation of war against the passage of time”, illustrated the CEO.

“We came to clean up so that the workers would have access afterwards. They are supposed to come and reconnect the house tomorrow,” Mr Mance said with a sigh, in front of a massive tree that had collapsed just outside his mother’s house.

With his wife Lyne Farmer, he owns a veterinary practice in the area. Their house, located closer to the city center, was less affected. “We were lucky, we were still spared. Three trees have fallen, but there is nothing major for us fortunately”, says M^me farmer.

A little further on, Kaveh Nasr-Esfahani is busy cutting down a fallen tree in front of his house when The Press the meeting. “I was in Sainte-Adèle when the storm started. My neighbor called me to tell me that a tree had fallen on the way. I couldn’t move right away, because it was too violent. I had to stay in a warehouse waiting for it to pass,” he says.

On the way back, “there was debris crossing the highway at full speed,” recalls the professional accountant, who left Montreal to settle in the Laurentians two years ago. “When I came back, there were a good fifty trees on the road. All the neighbors came out with their chainsaws. In three hours, we managed to unblock it all the way to the Hydro-Quebec pole,” he said.

” I am always ready ”

Not far from there, in Morin-Heights, the storm is also the only subject of discussion. On his terrace, Pierre Rawicz sees the damage: a tree fell very close to his house, but did not reach it.

“I am always ready. You don’t have a choice anyway when you live in the North. Here, no one will come to help you. There are firefighters and the emergency service, but you can’t always depend on the world, ”sums up the man, who is equipped with generators and protections for his home.

For Mathieu Bélanger, a young professional who is building a new subdivision in Morin-Heights, the storm is not easy. “We really feel that there is a before and an after. It’s a bit madness, ”he sums up, in front of his truck which he has installed near his land.

Valérie, also a resident of Morin-Heights, says she had “the fear of [sa] life “. “My son’s land next door is really ransacked. It was terrible. At home, the big tree fell on the wires, but fortunately nothing tore. It didn’t last long, but it was scary,” she says.

Several challenges on the horizon

Guy Labelle, public works employee of the City of Morin-Heights met near his land, notes that the challenge will be great in the coming days to collect the wood and reconnect all the citizens.

“Before, fallen trees were sent to the ecocentre in Saint-Sauveur, but it was way too expensive. There, we wait and we take permission to burn the wood, except that it’s a lot of pollution, so we can’t burn a lot. The ideal is to make mulch of it, and you put it around. At least it’s ecological, ”reasoned the official.

If his house came out of it relatively intact, Mr. Labelle says that several members of his entourage were not so lucky. “I have a friend who lives not too far from here, and who was really in the line of passage of the storm. And I can tell you that his field is a disaster, ”he concludes.

Nine people in Ontario and one in Quebec lost their lives due to thunderstorms, accompanied by strong winds, which shook the two provinces on Saturday.