La Pêche suspends emergency but cleanup continues
The west Québec municipality of La Pêche has suspended a state of emergency imposed Monday amid washed-out roads, flooded homes and power outages but a community-wide clean-up effort continues, its mayor said Wednesday.
Chemin de la Montagne remains the last of more than 40 roads that were closed by damage including sinkholes, landslides and flooding.
Power has been restored to the 140 homes without power Tuesday, and no residents are stranded behind flooded roads, although some still have to take alternate routes.
LANDSLIDE THREAT
“Things are improving,” said Mayor Robert Bussière, but he cautioned that landslides continue to be a threat, such as the one on Mill Road in Wakefield, which led to the temporary evacuation of a local inn.
New flooding could also be an issue, he said.
He’s still waiting to hear from the Quebec government about whether it will offer aid to the municipality and individual residents to rebuild and hopes that he’ll have an answer by Friday.
Quebec’s municipal affairs ministry couldn’t immediately say what aid, if any, would be offered to La Pêche.
Roadwork by municipal staff working overtime and private contractors will likely take days, including repairs to Chemin de la Montagne and Route 366, where large culverts were washed away by flood waters.
Staff are also surveying area roads to see what work has to be done before winter.
People with flooded homes, most of them in Wakefield, are still pumping out their basements with the municipality offering emergency lodging at the Sainte-Cécile-deMasham.
Wakefield’s popular Kaffé 1860, which was forced to close due to flooding, announced that it would be open Wednesday night for the business’s “slightly scaled back” birthday celebration.
Wakefield’s community Facebook page was full of people offering the use of sump pumps or beds for the night and a Go Fund Me effort popped up to help people who have been affected.
Bussière said neighbours are helping neighbours across the municipality of 8,000 year-round residents spread over 6,000 square kilometres.
“It’s a community that’s tied together very strong,” he said.
Portrait photographer Helene Anne Fortin’s home and studio on Burnside Road in Wakefield was inundated by flood waters.
It knocked out her power and furnace but she was grateful neighbours and clients pitched in with fans, dehumidifiers and help with the clean-up. One even brought food. “I’ve got light and heat — we’re making progress,” Fortin said by late Wednesday afternoon. “Compared to losing life and limb, we’ll get through this.”