The return home of 1,900 residents of the Hautes-Laurentides who were evacuated because of a threatened dike could extend beyond December 17th.
• Also read: Dike is threatening to give in: Evacuees can pick up personal items from Saturday
• Also read: Unstable dike: no return before December 17th
• Also read: Threatening dike: No return date for evacuees
“We will contact you as soon as possible regarding an expected and possible return date […] We don't want to go there too quickly because we don't know how the situation will develop in the next few days,” said Environment Minister Benoit Charrette during a trip to the region yesterday.
A precautionary evacuation notice was issued late on December 3 due to the risk of a breach of the Morier Levee on the edge of Kiamika Reservoir.
According to the Ministry of Public Security, a total of 1,900 people from Chute-Saint-Philippe and Lac-des-Écorces had to leave their homes.
For reasons of “predictability”, the date given on Wednesday was December 17, but it was possible that the evacuation could be extended, Minister Charrette indicated.
Stable
The Morier dike has internal erosion that requires work to ensure the integrity of the dam, as we can read on the Quebec government website.
Ministry engineers are carrying out drainage works to lower the groundwater level of the Kiamika reservoir, explained Martin Ferland, engineer in the ministry's General Directorate of Dams.
“The situation is stable […] The risks are the same,” he warned.
Environment Ministry engineers have dug a water diversion channel towards the Kiamika River at the foot of the Morier dike, which is in danger of giving way. PHOTO PROVIDED BY MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT
Two weeks ago, “worrying” accumulations of water at the base of the dike and sediment transport were observed, indicating a risk of breach.
If the dike gives way, the equivalent of 100,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools could be dumped around the Kiamika reservoir.
Eleven communities in the region would then have to be evacuated.