After announcing on Thursday that it was considering expanding government aid offered to victims of the storm DebbyQuebec Premier François Legault said Friday that people who were victims of flooding caused by a sewer backup will be eligible for compensation.
Each situation will be assessed on a “case-by-case basis,” explained the Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, during a press briefing Friday afternoon with François Legault and the Minister responsible for the Lanaudière region and Tourism, Caroline Proulx.
Since the launch of the General Disaster Financial Assistance Program following the storm, 1,834 individuals, 178 municipalities and one business have applied, Bonnardel revealed. As of Friday, more than $38,000 has been distributed under the program.
The Minister of Public Security also took the opportunity to take stock one week after the storm. The situation has “greatly improved,” according to him. Twenty municipalities are still affected and there are still about twenty roads to repair; at the beginning of the week, there were 180 that needed repairs. François Bonnardel was not able to give an update on the repair schedule for the remaining roads, noting that they are mainly located in the Lanaudière region and Mauricie.
On Friday morning, the Ministry of Transportation released a summary of road conditions in Lanaudière. It indicates that 10 complete closures are in effect as well as four partial closures. The ministry says it will undertake work on 11 of these sites. In the region, 39 incidents related to the storm Debby causing disruptions to the road network have been reported. Of these, 25 roads or structures have been reopened, the ministry said in a statement.
According to data from Minister Bonnardel, there are also 52 people left isolated. The landslide situation has “deteriorated”: a little over 120 were listed and their number has now climbed to 187.
Up to 50 mm of rain this weekend
Although rain is expected to fall in Quebec this weekend, additional damage is not expected in the province, many regions of which are still weakened by heavy rains brought by the remnants of the storm. Debby.
François Legault indicated that between 15 and 25 millimetres of rain are expected on average. “However, there are certain sub-regions of Lanaudière where it can go up to 50 millimetres,” he said. “Generally speaking, if we exclude these three or four municipalities in Lanaudière, it should not bring additional damage at the end of the week,” he reassured.
Caroline Proulx, for her part, asked people who own cottages in the unoccupied territories located in northern Lanaudière to avoid going there “tonight and this weekend” because of the danger currently posed by the forest roads in the region, which must generally be used to reach homes. “It’s a region with a particular character, more vulnerable,” she said.
To minimize the impact of the rains that will hit the region, Mme Proulx stressed that as a preventive measure, the “nearly 600 private and municipal dams in northern Lanaudière” will be “opened gradually to ensure water flow.”
With The Canadian Press