The municipalities of Baie-Saint-Paul and Saint-Côme resorted to their emergency measures on Monday as ongoing flooding forced the evacuation of dozens of homes and damaged several road infrastructures. At least two people are missing.
At 12:05 p.m., the municipality of Baie-Saint-Paul activated its emergency response. Since then, Route 138 and several roads and mountain ranges in the community of around 7,300 people have been closed to traffic because of the heavy rains of the past few hours, which have caused the Gouffre and Mares rivers to overflow. Bridges were also damaged while trailers located at Le Genevrier campsite were washed away by the Rivière des Mares, also causing several chalets on the site to be flooded.
“The current was so strong that it tore trunks and branches. It’s gone up to here,” said Le Devoir Jean-Sébastien Proulx. He and his parents had to be evacuated from their apartment in downtown Baie-Saint-Paul on Monday due to rapidly rising water levels in their area. “The water was rising at breakneck speed,” adds Mr Proulx, who found refuge with relatives who had escaped the floods.
Two helicopters belonging to the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) and the Canadian Forces were also deployed Monday after two firefighters were swept away by the current. They tried to help the citizens affected by the floods in the Saint-Urbain sector in Charlevoix. An investigation is underway to try to locate the two people, the SQ said on Monday.
For his part, the mayor of Baie-Saint-Paul, Michaël Pilote, reported “two missing people” in a press conference late Monday afternoon, without wanting to confirm that they were firefighters. “What I can say is that these are not Baie-Saint-Paul people,” he said.
“Isolated” residents
However, the elected official said there were between 60 and 80 people inside the Luc et Marie Claude arena as of Monday afternoon after being evacuated from their homes. Children from two daycare centers in the city center were brought to this arena where their parents could pick them up.
“Several apartment buildings are at risk of collapsing, washed away by flood waters,” the mayor said, while around 1,000 people were “isolated” on Monday due to the closure of road links in the community. “In the next few hours we will be able to help other people” who have to be evacuated, assured Michaël Pilote.
A recommendation to boil water was also issued in Baie-Saint-Paul due to a disruption in the water supply system. “We will focus on repairing this leak over the next few hours and we hope to have an aqueduct network that is working better than it currently is,” said Mr. Pilote. This cooking water notice, which affects the entire community, should apply at least for the next two days.
Public Security Minister François Bonnardel will travel to Baie-Saint-Paul on Tuesday morning, accompanied by CAQ deputies Jonatan Julien and Kariane Bourassa, to find out about the devastation caused by the spring flood, which also forced the evacuation of several residents in of the Quebec region on Monday.
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#floods To @baiesaintpaul : We are in contact with the affected municipalities and are monitoring the situation very closely. The @sureteqc uses its employees to support the community. I will be there tomorrow with my colleagues @karianebCAQ & @JJulienCAQ
– Francois Bonnardel (@fbonnardelCAQ) May 1, 2023
Lanaudière receives
In the commune of Saint-Côme in Lanaudière, a dozen streets were closed to traffic on Monday and several residences were evacuated because of the rising water in that sector. A reception center was also opened to provide shelter for those affected by these floods.
Residents of the Domaine du Lac France near the King Lake dam were evacuated as they threatened to give in, Saint-Côme Mayor Martin Bordeleau said in an interview with Le Devoir. “We have maybe fifty homes that are in vulnerable areas,” he said, due to the rapid rise in water levels in the River L’Assomption.
“The damage is very extensive,” added the mayor, who reported that many roads and “culverts” were damaged by these spring floods. The community has also launched a call for available volunteers to fill sandbags to protect homes threatened by these floods.
“We’ve never seen it before,” said a resident of Saint-Côme, Bernard Paquin. “We don’t have a road anymore,” he says, stating that his house on the edge of a lake in the community was spared from the rising tides. “But we have three neighbors in our area that are completely flooded. »
The communes of Chertsey and Sainte-Émélie-de-l’Énergie also declared a state of emergency on Monday due to rising water levels that have isolated many homes on their territory.
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