Quebec plans to declare a state of emergency in Saguenay, where the risk of a landslide has caused the evacuation of more than 70 households in the La Baie sector, said the Quebec Minister of Housing and the Region. from Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Andrée Laforest, during a press conference.
“Yes, it will take a decree for the state of emergency,” she said, specifying that such a decree should be signed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Security, Geneviève Guilbault.
“This morning, Geneviève Guilbault was in complete agreement […] because yes, it is an emergency situation,” added Minister Laforest.
“Everyone is alive, we were able to avoid a disaster,” said the mayor of the City of Saguenay, Julie Dufour, during the press conference.
Although she is relieved that everyone is safe and sound, Mayor Dufour recalled that a lot of work remains to be done and that while awaiting the test results, it is still “far too early to predict everything that will happen. pass “.
“Anything can happen as we speak, we are not certain,” warned the director of fire safety services and coordinator of emergency measures for the municipality, Carol Girard, speaking of “risk of movement imminent ground”.
He explained that for the moment, “the work that will be done is to build a dike so as not to evacuate the area any further, to ensure that if there is a movement of the ground, that it stop at a specific place. »
Mmes Dufour and Laforest had met Sunday morning to discuss the crisis.
The victims taken care of
Ms. Laforest indicated that already, “there are 30 dwellings that have been released with the Office (municipal) de l’habitation de Saguenay” to house the displaced inhabitants. These temporary homes are located in La Baie, but also in Saint-Félix and in the borough of Chicoutimi.
Others could be added in the future, added Ms. Dufour, as all possibilities are studied, “from the campground to the residence for the elderly, to the residence for students”.
The evacuated residences will not be able to be found anytime soon, while the mayor foresees the need for “medium-term accommodation, we are talking about weeks and months”.
“We are working with the military base, the Red Cross, private owners” and the government of Quebec to manage the crisis, she assured.
On Monday, a house in La Baie fell from the top of an elevation, washed away by a landslide. About twenty houses were then abandoned. On Saturday, the City announced the evacuation of 53 new homes.
A compensation program provides for maximum compensation of $260,000 for citizens who will have to say goodbye to their homes for good. But in a context of an overheated real estate market, this amount risks for many being well below the market value of their property.