Rules eased for rebuilding in flood-hit areas

Compensation from province based on value of home as well as cost of repairs

On Wednesday, the Quebec government officially adopted a decree that will determine which properties can be rebuilt following damage caused by the floods in April and May.

In response to 17 public consultations held on July 10, Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux said modifications were brought to certain criteria in the decree and the financial aid program.

Compensation will now be based on the value of the land, the value of the house and the cost of reparations in order to increase residents’ chances of receiving compensation.

The initial draft only considered the municipal valuation of the property.

Coiteux said public frustration during the consultations largely stemmed from the fact that some people were receiving compensation while others weren’t.

Expensive properties, Coiteux explained, had better chances of being compensated than more modest-costing properties in the first draft.

The final revision bridges the gap between residents who own modest properties and residents who own more expensive properties, he said.

Another modification allows residents whose homes were seriously damaged in the zero-to20-year special flood zone, i.e., an area that will probably be flooded sometime during the next 20 years, to apply for a collective exemption to rebuild.

Coiteux said he wants to prevent areas from experiencing mass depopulation. He said residents who wish to apply for the collective exemption will need to meet certain criteria, such as the area will need to be densely populated and must have 10 houses per hectare, among other things.

Pascale Biron, a Concordia University professor in geography, planning and environment, said she doesn’t agree with the exemption, saying the government needs to stop allowing properties to be built in at-risk flood zones. However, she feels Quebec made the concession because victims of the 2011 St-Jean-sur-Richelieu floods were allowed to rebuild in areas that were considered to be at-risk.

“For people who are in this situation, their obvious question is why, six years ago, in St-Jean-surRichelieu when climate change was already a major concern, why is it that premier Charest allowed everyone back? And why we (aren’t) allowed back? I can see people being upset,” Biron said.

The financial aid program was also modified.

Residents who desire to renovate their properties to ensure better flood safety will be reimbursed up to $200,000 in costs, Coiteux said. He said homeowners who wish to sell their land to the municipality will be reimbursed up to $250,000.

In the fall, Quebec Environment Minister David Heurtel said a twoday forum will be held to discuss how to better prepare for serious floods in the future.

“Not only will we have more floods, these floods will have more of an impact, a more violent impact,” he said, adding that the intensity and frequency of these floods are linked to climate change.

Heurtel said the forum will focus on how watersheds and flood zones are managed in light of climate change, and on improvements in urban planning in flood zones.