Hundreds are still displaced in worst-hit areas
Province estimates about 625 residents remain unable to return to homes
With water receding in the worsthit parts of the province, most Quebecers have moved on from another tumultuous flood season.
But for people like Jacques Bédard, the worst isn’t quite over. Bédard had been living in a motel for much of the last month and though he was recently able to return to his home in Rigaud, there is no running water.
“I mean, I can’t shower or drink water from the tap. But life has to go on, I have a business with contracts in Montreal that need my attention every day,” said Bédard, an electrician. “It hasn’t been easy.”
Another Rigaud resident, Alain Lemire, says he still has water in his basement and that some of his neighbours aren’t home yet.
“There was recently a meeting
with the city, the province and displaced residents and they talked about lodging people in the dorm rooms of a local college,” Lemire said. “I don’t think that will happen. ... The city said it couldn’t afford to keep paying for hotels for people.
“There are people worse off than me, so I’m taking it in stride.”
At its peak, the flooding — which began in mid-April and continued for weeks around Lake of Two Mountains and the Ottawa River — displaced around 10,000 Quebecers and damaged thousands of homes. But there are still about 625 people who haven’t returned home, according to the Canadian Red Cross.
On Île-Mercier, northwest of Roxboro-Pierrefonds, most residents can’t go home because the bridge linking it to the mainland hasn’t yet been reopened to traffic.
Meanwhile, a section of homes in Ste-Marthe-sur-le-Lac are still unlivable after a breach in the dike caused water from Lake of Two Mountains to flood one-third of the city in a matter of minutes last month.
On Tuesday, hundreds of SteMarthe residents gathered in a local church to demand action from Mayor Sonia Paulus, with some shouting her down over what they say was a preventable disaster.
On May 10, a group of citizens filed a request for a class-action lawsuit to be brought against the city, claiming it knew the dike was damaged for nearly 10 years and did not act swiftly enough to repair it. They’re seeking up to $400,000 in damages each.
Residents on Île-Bizard have also filed a request for a class-action suit against their city, claiming it was ill-prepared to deal with flooding that destroyed mobile homes and disproportionately affected the island’s poorest and most vulnerable people.
Quebec’s public security ministry has offered up to $200,000 in aid to some of those affected by the flooding but many say that’s not enough to pay down their mortgages or buy property somewhere outside the city.
Quebec’s public security ministry no longer gives daily updates about the number of people who were forced from their homes, but will host information sessions in 11 communities in June. It will also open temporary offices in 12 cities near the Ottawa River, the Lake of Two Mountains and in the Mauricie, Laurentian and Abitibi regions.
“The thing is, we were prepared for this, there was good organization on the ground,” Lemire said. “And still, some people aren’t back home yet and some will lose their homes.”