Public Security Minister François Bonnardel took stock of the damage caused by the post-tropical storm on Wednesday. Debby.
According to his information, five days after the torrential rains, 34 municipalities are still affected; last weekend, this number rose to 86.
There are also 38 flooded homes out of the 2,300 that were hit hard by the storm. In addition, of the 464 people who were evacuated, 24 are still there.
Fifty-three roads are also still affected, according to the minister, who took the opportunity on Wednesday to announce that Highway 13 will probably be reopened to traffic on Thursday morning.
“I know it is extremely difficult for many citizens who have lost everything and who have to rely on their private insurance,” said Mr. Bonnardel.
Moreover, the minister sent a message to private insurers: “Be there,” he said. “Respond, put in additional staff, because people need answers, need to talk to someone.”
On Wednesday, insurer Beneva compared the situation to the 1998 ice storm, when the number of claims exploded.
Mr. Bonnardel recalled that funds are available from the government for such emergency situations; citizens must fill out a form on the website of the Ministry of Public Security.
As of Tuesday, 700 people had already done so, he said.
The government has also set aside more than $5.6 billion for municipalities to improve their infrastructure and combat riverbank erosion, he added.
“We are putting in substantial amounts. Now, it is up to the municipalities to also act and seek out these amounts.”
Mr. Bonnardel had invited the media to a first press scrum since the storm following his meeting with the mayors of the MRC of Montcalm.
He was accompanied by the Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Lanaudière region, Caroline Proulx, as well as the Member for Rousseau, Louis-Charles Thouin.
Mme Proulx defended herself against being absent from the media. “It’s not because we don’t have continuous images on our social networks that we don’t have both feet on the ground,” she said.
Prime Minister François Legault could go to Louiseville, in Mauricie, on Thursday to assess the damage.
The remains of Debby caused a lot of trouble in Quebec, with some regions receiving around 200 millimetres of rain in the space of 24 hours.
Several basements were flooded. Power outages affected up to 550,000 customers Friday night.
The most affected regions are the Laurentians, Lanaudière, Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec. Several landslides have occurred in these areas.