The municipality of Petit-Saguenay was inland. The Petit-Saguenay river has actually risen from its bed and divided the entrance to the village in two. Therefore it was impossible for motorists to go to either Saint-Siméon or Anse-Saint-Jean.
Mayor Philôme Lafrance confirmed that emergency measures had been taken due to the flooding. The holiday village of Petit-Saguenay was forced to allow 300 visitors on its premises. The city has ordered residents to stay home out of concern for their safety.
“It is important for citizens to be vigilant. We are closely monitoring the development of the situation. It is not impossible that we will have to evacuate certain sectors. All the decisions we make are based on the idea of wanting to protect our people,” confirmed Mr. Lafrance in a press conference on Sunday afternoon.
The Roberto Lavoie Arena was converted into a reception and service center for disaster victims. At last count, 15 residents had to leave their homes.
The Petit-Saguenay River is a concern
As of 3:45 p.m., the Petit-Saguenay River was classified as “moderate flooding” at the Vigilance site, the Quebec government’s flood monitoring platform. Its trend was increasing, its level was already over 30 meters and its flow was more than 211 cubic meters per second.
Residential buildings between kilometers 56 and 68 were evacuated earlier in the day as a precaution.
Concerns were expressed online on social communication platforms. Sunday’s situation reminded some of this summer’s events in Rivière-Éternité.
Anse-Saint-Jean was also affected
On the L’Anse-Saint-Jean side the situation was no rosier. The municipality announced via social networks that it had deployed workers on site to contain the damage caused by the heavy accumulation of water. The bridge on Rue des Côteaux was closed at dinner time.
In addition, Zec Anse-Saint-Jean has warned its users not to use the paths as they are interrupted in several places. Those visiting Mont-Édouard for the Villages en Couleurs provincial symposium had no choice but to wait as traffic was temporarily suspended.
However, people were able to begin evacuating at around 3 p.m. and were escorted across the Patrice-Fortin stream bridge.
However, the Charlevoix region is undoubtedly the hardest hit. Well over a hundred millimeters of rain fell in the Charlevoix area.
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