The vast majority of evacuees from Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval were able to return home on Wednesday morning. The properties affected by the meteoric rise in water on the Île Enchanteresse can finally be counted on one hand, to the delight of the residents.
• Also read – [EN IMAGES] Floods in Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval: the mayor declares a state of emergency
• Also read – Torrential rain: evacuation of residents of Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval and call for caution by François Legault
The city of Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval had declared a state of emergency should the situation deteriorate, as predicted by the Center d’expertise hydrique du Québec.
Experts predicted the flow of the Montmorency River would increase to 966 cubic meters per second. It reached its highest value during the course of the day on Tuesday with 738 cubic meters.
Roger Amiot lives on Rue des Érables, on the east side of Île Enchanteresse. His house is one of the few affected by the water. When the Journal stopped by Wednesday morning, his basement was soaked with about four inches of water.
Roger Amiot was able to return home to see the damage caused by the floods on Île Enchanteresse on July 12. Vincent Desbiens
“When I saw how high the river was on Monday morning, I immediately started moving things upstairs because I knew I would at least get something out of it. I’ve been here for 22 years and I know when there’s real risk.
Mr. Amiot is a “flood regular”. He claims this week was far from the worst he’d seen on Enchanting Island.
“We are a long way from December 2020 when it was blocked because of the ice. It wasn’t funny,” he says.
Vincent Desbiens
survey
On the other end of the island, Viviane Simard had just returned home to check out the damage when Le Journal hit her. As expected, nothing had moved at home.
“I wasn’t worried, not even two minutes. I’ve been here for 18 years and we’ve never had water because we’re sheltered from the north and still higher than the top. I’m not scared, but I’m a little tired of getting out.
Like her, many other islanders say they “understand” the city’s decision to order the evacuation of the entire Enchantress Island, but believe the existing system deserves an overhaul.
Residents of Île Enchanteresse are wondering if it makes sense to evacuate the entire area when there is a risk of flooding. Vincent Desbiens
introspection
The mayor of Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval, France Fortier, is aware of the citizens’ allegations and claims that the issue will be seriously considered by the municipal administration when assessing it.
“That’s something we’re going to think about. This [chez qui] Of course, if the water gets in, they have to be evacuated because it’s too dangerous. On the other hand, what can we do for those who have never had water at home? That’s all you have to watch,” she explains.
The current eroded part of the shore at a resident of Île Enchanteresse on July 12. Vincent Desbiens
According to Ms Fortier, the first step to segmenting the evacuations on Île Enchanteresse would be to fit a transformer to avoid cutting off power to all residents and to allow those who are not at risk to stay at home.
“In any case, this time we had no choice but to ask everyone to leave,” defends the general manager of the municipality, Marc Proulx. If the water flow had reached the predicted peak, there would be one meter of water on the entire island. We couldn’t take any risks to keep people safe.”
The residents of Île Enchanteresse allowed the rubble to create a natural flood barrier on their property. Vincent Desbiens
Return home to Beauport and Stoneham
Residents on Rue des Trois-Saults in Beauport were also able to return to their homes this morning after receiving the green light from Quebec City Public Safety. Some of them had to be transported by boat when the Montmorency River burst its banks on Tuesday.
Near the River Jacques-Cartier in Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury, residents were allowed by the community to return home on Wednesday afternoon.
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