The commune of Sainte-Madeleine-de-la-Rivière-Madeleine in Haute-Gaspésie is cut off from the rest of the world following the closure of two sections of Route 132.
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A first closure had to be implemented on Wednesday morning around 7am in both directions between the hamlets of Gros-Morne and Manche-d’Épée. Landslides make traffic too dangerous.
“Heavy rains caused boulders to collapse and land on the roadway,” explains Claude Doiron, spokesman for the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).
Another section of road has also not been passable since Tuesday evening, 8 p.m., due to severe flooding, this time just before Grande-Vallée.
Sainte-Rivière-de-la-Rivière-Madeleine, located between these two sectors, is therefore completely isolated. And what makes it worse is that more than 300 homes are affected by a power outage, almost the entire population.
“The problem with this is that there is no possible workaround,” says Mr. Doiron.
As of this writing, the Department of Transportation has not yet been able to say when Route 132 may reopen to traffic.