Floods in Charlevoix | ” Never seen “

Baie-Saint-Paul was cut in two following a historic flood on Monday. Nearly 1,000 people are isolated and two firefighters are missing.

(Baie-Saint-Paul) “A chalet went into the current and hit two others,” says Paul Labbé, to testify to the strength of the rivers, swollen by rain and melting snow, which surprised residents. from Charlevoix on Monday. A historic flood split Baie-Saint-Paul in two, isolating 1,000 people, while two firefighters swept away by the waters are still missing upstream, in Saint-Urbain.

“We have never seen so much water”, drops Paul Labbé, co-owner with his brother of Le Genévrier campsite, met a few steps from the gutted Route 138 where a telephone pole was being shaken like a buoy by the river. of the Mares.

“The river still fluctuates a lot when there are heavy storms, we see it rise quickly, but not like today. That is unheard of, ”said his brother Bruno Labbé on the phone earlier in the afternoon.

Barely hours earlier, at least two trailers swept away by the nightmarish flow of the Rivière des Mares, which crosses the campground, smashed on the Route 138 bridge which spans it and normally allows access to the Côte-Nord from Quebec.

« Vers le milieu de l’avant-midi, on a vu qu’on aurait des problèmes, que le niveau montait comme on ne l’avait jamais observé, que les installations allaient être menacées, a relaté Bruno Labbé, qui exploite cet établissement familial depuis 60 ans. [La rivière] started overflowing around 12:30 p.m., and you see, we still have a lot of the campsite. »

Cut in half

At this location, where the Rivière des Mares crosses Route 138, the latter “literally tore itself apart”, swept away by the waves, indicated the mayor of Baie-Saint-Paul, Michaël Pilote, during a point of press, a few hours after having triggered the emergency measures in his city, around noon on Monday.

The city is completely cut in two by the Rivière du Gouffre, of which the Rivière des Mares is a tributary, confirmed the director of public security for Baie-Saint-Paul, Alain Gravel, from the town hall. “Part of my team is on the other side of the river. They can’t come here. They evacuated to Les Éboulements, another municipality further east.

All the road links that normally allow citizens to come and go between the two shores of Baie-Saint-Paul were either submerged or closed preventively on Monday.

As a result, several citizens were forced to sleep with friends, such as residents of the Tremsim district, who could not go home Monday evening.

One of the bridges which give access to this district was downright torn by the force of the water. The other was damaged by several impacts of debris projected by the river. Nearly 1,000 residents were thus isolated. The latter are however safe, said Mayor Michaël Pilote. A helicopter is available in case of emergency.

“My electricity meter is under water”

Clément Guillou lives on the east side of the Gouffre River. Unable to return to his home because he was blocked on the west side when The Press met him, he had to resign himself to renting a hotel room.

“I never would have believed that the water could pass the low wall,” he drops, referring to the walls that normally surround the river in the center of Baie-Saint-Paul. A friend, Pierre, wanted to offer to host them, but he lost the power. “My electric meter is under water,” he said.

The general manager at Sentiers Québec-Charlevoix, Justin Verville Alarie, has been watching the rising waters for several hours. He speaks of a perfect storm. The rain hit the mountains surrounding Baie-Saint-Paul, and the snow is still very present there, he said when crossing rue Saint-Jean-Baptiste. “We are always monitoring, and the day before yesterday, there was still on average a good meter of snow in the forest,” he said.

Several citizens were gathered near the Leclerc bridge in Baie-Saint-Paul, closed to traffic and where structural engineers from the Ministry of Transport were on site Monday afternoon to assess the situation.

In the evening, firefighters evacuated part of Sainte-Anne Street, which borders the Gouffre River to the municipal wharf and the beach.

Two firefighters missing

Meanwhile, in Saint-Urbain, about 30 minutes north of Baie-Saint-Paul, two firefighters are still missing.

Shortly before 2 p.m., the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) was informed that they would have been swept away by the waters while they were busy helping residents struggling with the floods on rang Saint-Georges. The latter were airlifted and are safe and sound, but the firefighters remain untraceable.

Access to the area is made difficult since some roads have been cut off, again due to the flooding of the Gouffre River and some of its tributaries that have come out of their beds. A helicopter from the Sûreté du Québec was on site to help with the search.

SAR CH146 Griffon helicopters and a CC130 Hercules aircraft as well as a Canadian Coast Guard vessel were also deployed to the scene to assist the SQ in the search, the Canadian Armed Forces Joint Rescue Coordination Center said.

A command post has also been set up not far from there by the SQ to coordinate search efforts, and citizens are asked not to approach the area.

Reached by telephone, the director general of the municipality, Martin Guérin, confirmed that several residences in the village were currently flooded. “We asked these people to leave to have access to different services,” he said, calling on those in need to go to the Saint-Urbain community center.

The region may have to wait before having a break since in the afternoon, Monday, Environment Canada predicted that it should still fall there “a total of 20 to 30 millimeters of rain” by Tuesday evening.

The Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, has already announced that he will travel to Baie-Saint-Paul on Tuesday with the MP for Charlevoix–Côte-de-Beaupré, Kariane Bourassa, and the Minister of Infrastructure, Jonathan Julian.