The exhaustive explanations of the authorities to reassure the hundreds of victims of La Baie were not enough to convince them all that it will be safe to return to their homes in two to four months.
Updated at 12:17 a.m.
Faces were long as they exited the Vieux Théâtre de La Baie on Wednesday afternoon. After the Prime Minister of Quebec, François Legault, had announced the same morning that they could, in the long term, return to their homes, 67 households were met there to be explained to them what happened next.
While the news was welcomed by some as a relief, the prospect of returning to the home from which they were evacuated was a nightmare for others.
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
Jonathan Ouellette
“It’s the worst thing they could do to us,” says Jonathan Ouellette, for whom getting compensation would have been a much better option. “It was the bottom of my son’s inheritance, that house, my pension fund. Now it is worth nothing. »
Same story with Sheldon Samson. The resident of rue de la Terrasse-Bellevue was not evacuated, but he and his spouse will move their household to a trailer not far from La Baie since they no longer feel safe inside their house.
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
Sheldon Sanson, resident of La Baie
For Nathalie Tremblay, it is rather the prospect of having to live far from home, probably for several months, while the authorities carry out reinforcement work, which worries her.
We have the mortgage on the house to pay, but I have the impression that it is at my expense that I have to rehouse myself. At home, we have four children, ranging from 15 to 19 years old. It’s not easy to move, everyone there.
Nathalie Tremblay, disaster victim from La Baie
Soften the slope
Because major excavation work will have to be carried out in the coming months in order to soften the slope where the landslide took place in La Baie, explained during an exhaustive presentation to the citizens the head of the landslide section to the Department of Transport, Denis Demers.
The expert confirmed at the same time the cause of the landslide which had carried away a first house on June 13: the heavy spring rains, around 157 millimeters for the month of May, almost double the normal . Coupled with the melting of a layer of snow thicker than usual, “that’s what is the exact cause of the outbreak,” said Denis Demers.
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
Houses whose occupants have had to relocate since the disaster
Fearing a possible “clay flow”, a very rare phenomenon, but possible in this case, according to the data available to the authorities at the time, the City of Saguenay decided to evacuate the residents of 53 additional houses on Saturday night. to last Sunday. A first wave of evacuation took place on June 13, after the appearance of cracks in April.
The question we ask ourselves is: would we sleep in these houses? That’s why we put a very large perimeter […]. In this case, lives were in danger.
Denis Demers, engineer and head of the ground movements section at the Ministère des Transports
“When we finish our work, it will be very safe in the long term”, he assured in conclusion, adding that he would sleep “on [ses] two ears” in any of the mansions that will still be standing.
Improved compensation
Passing through Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean on Wednesday to meet the victims of La Baie, François Legault announced an increase in the compensation that will be granted to them.
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
Premier François Legault visited La Baie on Wednesday.
If the maximum amount reimbursed was previously $260,000, it will now increase to $385,000, the equivalent of the cost of reconstruction, he said.
The daily compensation of $20 per person per day – an amount considered derisory by many, including the mayoress of Saguenay, Julie Dufour – will also be doubled, indicated the Prime Minister. The value of their furniture, which they could not recover when they left, will also be reimbursed to them.
However, the owners of only four houses will be able to receive this sum since their residences, located at the top of the embankment which has collapsed, will have to be demolished for good.
Legault wants to be reassuring
This is also the case of Charles-David Bergeron Brisson, Érika Simard and their five children, whose house was swallowed up by the landslide of June 13. Since then, they have been staying with family.
“What we regret the most is having lost security for our children. Before, they could play in the yard, “said the father of the family to the Prime Minister during an emotional meeting. “Bravo for your resilience, we will be there for you,” replied Mr. Legault.
Four other households could also be entitled to compensation, as the authorities have still not ruled on the fate of their homes located on the edge of the landslide area.
François Legault wanted to be reassuring towards people frightened at the idea of reentering the evacuated area. Many fear a drop in the value of their homes.
“It happens every time, and you have to be able to reassure them with scientists and engineers. […] We can’t start saying that everyone can move, ”said the Prime Minister.
In all, 187 people had to be evacuated from 76 homes due to the risk of landslides in an area of La Baie.
Mr. Legault also took care to thank the authorities responsible for emergency measures, thanks to whom “no one was injured”. “They saved lives,” he said.
The member for Jonquière, the PQ Sylvain Gaudreault, was delighted by the possibility for some victims of finding their homes eventually, but he asks Quebec to also help those who would like to leave the sector for good.