The Ministry of Public Safety issued an “extreme” warning late Sunday evening about the risk of a breach of the Morier Dike on the edge of Lake Kiamika in the Laurentians. Residents of the Kiamika and Lièvre rivers, Chute-Saint-Philippe and Lac-des-Écorces had to urgently leave their homes.
Updated yesterday at 11:44 p.m.
Residents of the affected area must evacuate to the Mont-Laurier sports center and follow the instructions of local authorities, the Quebec ministry warned on alert after 10 p.m. on Sunday evening.
The affected sector covers a vast area east of Mont-Laurier in the Laurentians.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY QUÉBEC IN ALARM
Sector affected by the warning in the Laurentians
This evacuation notice was made “due to the dangers that existed following inspections of the infrastructure of the Kiamika Dam and the Morier Dike,” the municipality of Chute-Saint-Philippe said on its Facebook page. Residents living near the Kiamika River must go to the Jacques-Lesage Sports Center at 801 Rue Alix in Mont-Laurier.
Residents must evacuate immediately and plan not to have access to their residence for five days, as the municipality of Lac-des-Écorces also stated in its evacuation plan.
“I have been informed of a preventive evacuation in Chute-Saint-Philippe and Lac-des-Écorces related to the instability of the Morier dike,” said François Bonnardel, Minister of Public Security, on X. I am closely monitoring the situation with the civilian security teams. »
The Sûreté du Québec mobilized
Calls for evacuation and questions from citizens appeared on social networks on Sunday evening. Despite the late hour, the families had to pack their bags and leave the premises.
Sûreté du Québec (SQ) agents have been mobilized in “hot spots” in the sector to support the Ministry of Environment, Civil Security and affected municipalities, SQ spokesperson Catherine Bernard confirmed to La Presse.
Police officers went door-to-door to ensure the evacuation and safety of all residents affected by the “preventative evacuation order,” she emphasizes.
The SQ will remain on site to set up containment areas and protect evacuated homes, she added.
According to the municipal directory, 1,018 residents live in Chute-Saint-Philippe and 3,025 in Lac-des-Écorces. However, not all residents are affected by the eviction notice.
A “high capacity” dam.
The Ministry of Environment is the owner of the Morier Dike, a high-performance dam on the edge of the huge Kiamika reservoir and the river of the same name. The dike was built in 1954.
This earthen dike, 678 meters long and 15.85 meters high, has a retention capacity of 382,000,000 cubic meters of water, according to the technical data sheet of the Ministry of Environment, Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks.
The extent of the consequences of this dike is classified by the ministry as “very significant”.
The last assessment of the dam dates back to December 2019. No corrections were necessary, emphasizes the technical data sheet.
These dams that gave way
In Quebec, other dams have already failed this year, leading to flooding. This was the case during the spring floods of 2023 in Sainte-Émélie-de-l’Énergie and Chertsey in Lanaudière.
In Baie-Saint-Paul last May, victims also saw their homes flooded in less than twenty minutes when a protective dam in the city center burst.
In Charlevoix, a dam on the edge of Lake Monique gave way this fall, La Presse recently reported.
The water left a rut several meters deep and destroyed a forest road. Journalist Charles Lecavalier reported that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of dams across the province. The Ministry of Environment alone owns 930 state dams, including 391 high-capacity dams (such as the Morier Dike), 263 low-capacity dams and 276 small dams.