“I know it's extremely difficult,” François Bonnardel tells the victims of “Debby”

Photo: Mathieu Maisonneuve via The Canadian Press Post-tropical storm “Debby” caused damage to this residence in Saint-Lin-Laurentides.

Caroline Plante – The Canadian Press in Quebec City

Published at 12:30 p.m. Updated at 2:29 p.m.

• Quebec City

The Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, took stock on Wednesday of the damage caused by the post-tropical storm Debby.

According to his information, five days after the torrential rains, 34 municipalities are still affected; last weekend, this number rose to 86.

There are also 38 flooded homes out of the 2,300 that were hit hard by the storm. Furthermore, of the 464 people who were evacuated, 24 are still there.

Fifty-three roads are also still affected, according to the minister, who took the opportunity on Wednesday to announce that Highway 13 will probably be reopened to traffic on Thursday morning.

“I know that it is extremely difficult for many citizens who have lost everything and who have to call on their private insurance,” said Mr. Bonnardel.

Moreover, the minister sent a message to private insurers: “Be there,” he said. Answer, put in the extra manpower, because people need answers, need to talk to someone.”

On Wednesday, insurer Beneva compared the situation to the 1998 ice storm, when the number of claims exploded.

Mr. Bonnardel pointed out that funds are available from the government for such emergencies; citizens must fill out a form on the website of the Ministry of Public Security.

As of Tuesday, 700 people had already done so, he said.

The government has also set aside more than $5.6 billion for municipalities to improve their infrastructure and combat riverbank erosion, he added.

“We are putting in significant amounts. Now, it is up to the municipalities to also act and seek out these sums.”

Mr. Bonnardel had invited the media to a first press scrum since the storm following his meeting with the mayors of the MRC of Montcalm.

He was accompanied by the Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Lanaudière region, Caroline Proulx, as well as the Member for Rousseau, Louis-Charles Thouin.

Ms. Proulx defended herself from having been absent from the media. “It's not because we don't have continuous images on our social networks that we don't have both feet on the ground,” she said.

Premier François Legault could go to Louiseville, in Mauricie, on Thursday to assess the damage.

The remains of Debby caused a lot of trouble in Quebec, as some regions received about 200 millimetres of rain in the space of 24 hours.

Several basements were flooded. Power outages affected up to 550,000 customers Friday evening.

The most affected regions are the Laurentians, Lanaudière, Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec. Several landslides have occurred in these areas.

More rain expected

The regions of Quebec affected by heavy rain from storm Debby may not be out of the woods yet: Environment and Climate Change Canada warns that significant amounts of rain could fall Wednesday afternoon.

The department issued a special bulletin Wednesday at noon to warn of the risk of heavy rain following a thunderstorm in several areas of southern Quebec.

This could affect waterways and areas that are still recovering from last week’s events, warned Michèle Fleury, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

In general, two to ten millimetres are expected, but some isolated precipitation could bring up to 50 millimetres of rain, according to Ms. Fleury.

The Outaouais, Laurentides, Montérégie and Centre-du-Québec regions in particular are to be monitored.

No severe storms are expected at this time, Fleury said.

Public Security Minister François Bonnardel said that as of Wednesday morning, 34 municipalities were still affected and 38 homes were still flooded. At the height of the events, there were reports of 86 municipalities affected and 2,300 homes flooded.

Fifty-three roads are also still affected, according to the minister's report.

“The rivers are still high and there are structures that need to be rebuilt,” explained Michèle Fleury.

“So we issued this special bulletin to warn of a possibility that there could be heavy showers this afternoon.”

The Montreal, Laval and Lanaudière sectors are also among the sectors covered by the special bulletin.

The Canadian Press