The 1,900 residents of the Hautes-Laurentides who were evacuated because of a threatened dike can finally return home just in time for the holiday season.
• Also read: Dike is in danger of giving way: companies are also affected by evacuations
• Also read: Dike threatens to give way: evacuation could be extended
• Also read: Threatening dike: No return date for evacuees
“We thought about celebrating Christmas in the apartment that friends had lent us. We even decorated everything,” says Antoine Mainville, relieved to be spending the holidays at home.
The teacher from Chute-Saint-Philippe had to quickly leave his home with his wife and three- and seven-year-old sons on the evening of December 3rd.
PROVIDED BY ANTOINE MAINVILLE
The Ministry of Public Safety then issued a warning after discovering “worrying” accumulations of water at the base of the dike, suggesting a risk of breach.
Back
Last week, December 17 was announced as the date for the return of the 1,900 evacuees from the municipalities of Chute-Saint-Philippe and Lac-des-Écorces.
On Monday, Environment Minister Benoit Charrette suggested extending the evacuation.
However, Labelle MP Chantale Jeannotte announced on Thursday afternoon the lifting of the preventive evacuation order.
“The dike is safe. On our side all the lights are green,” said Martin Ferland, engineer in the Environment Ministry’s General Directorate of Dams.
It is still “too early” to determine what caused the instability of the Morier dike, where stabilization work will continue for about a week.
“It is still unclear. We can’t wait to find out exactly what work has been carried out,” emphasizes Antoine Mainville.
Hard blow for companies
So far, Quebec has opened 800 files and paid $339,000 to provide financial support to evacuees.
This eleven-day evacuation was also a hard blow to 130 businesses in Chute-Saint-Philippe and Lac-des-Écorces.
“We have a loss of almost $2 million. To avoid losing their workforce, companies continued to pay their employees,” explains Benoît Cochet, president of the Maison de l'Entrepeneur d'Antoine-Labelle.
He wants Quebec to introduce non-repayable financial support to make up for the losses.