Quebec Considers Expanding Aid for Victims of Storm Debby

Photo: Graham Hughes The Canadian Press Premier François Legault visited a Louiseville health facility that was flooded during post-tropical storm Debby on Thursday.

Léo Mercier-Ross in Louiseville

Published at 11:39 a.m. Updated at 5:44 p.m.

• Québec

The Quebec government plans to compensate households who suffered a sewer backup when torrential rains caused by the passage of the storm Debby fell on the province last Friday.

“If the sewer backups were exceptionally numerous because of the flooding, I think that common sense tells us that we should maybe expand the program. This is something that we are currently looking at,” declared the Prime Minister of Quebec, François Legault, at a press briefing in Louiseville. He visited the municipality of Mauricie to see the damage following the floods, which particularly affected this city and the region.

Currently, the General Disaster Financial Assistance Program compensates for flood damage that private insurance does not cover, such as flooding. “I will make sure with François Bonnardel [the Minister of Public Security] that, in an exceptional situation, we look into setting up exceptional programs,” indicated Mr. Legault.

Aware that insurance companies are currently overloaded, he invited the population to contact public security (toll-free) at 1 888 643-AIDE (2433) if necessary.

Although the Prime Minister did not make any concrete announcement regarding compensation for victims, Louiseville Mayor Yvon Deshaies said he was “satisfied” with the meeting with Mr. Legault. “He came, we asked him what we want, he’s going to look at the program.” In particular, Mr. Deshaies wants people to be compensated by the government beyond their insurance coverage. “If [the costs following a disaster] cost $30,000 and the person is insured for $10,000, let’s give them the missing $20,000,” he said.

The Louiseville Mayor also asked for “hands to help empty the basements.” He specifically requested the intervention of the armed forces, a request that Mr. Legault rejected. “We don't need the army. Twelve people, we can find that together,” declared the Prime Minister during a meeting with Yvon Deshaies, Paul Carbonneau and Réjean Carle, mayors of Louiseville, Yamachiche and Sainte-Ursule respectively.

“We forget about the military, but what I want is people so I can go and help my citizens,” Mr. Deshaies said during a press scrum. “Now, they know that I need people, I’ve said it often enough in recent days,” he added. “I hope they’ll do it.”

Photo: Léo Mercier-Ross Le Devoir Six days after the torrential rains that hit Quebec, François Legault went to Louiseville, in Mauricie, and more specifically to the Comtois multiservice health and social services centre, whose basement was flooded.

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Mr. Legault justifies his absence

François Legault also justified his absence in recent days during his visit to Louiseville on Thursday morning, which was his first outing in the field since Friday's heavy rain. “I think I did my job,” he said. “Starting Friday night, Saturday and Sunday, I had two priorities: reconnecting 550,000 Quebecers and making sure we repaired the roads that were causing homes to be isolated. We managed to do that.”

He explained his absence by the excessive number of disasters. “In the past, whenever there were major disasters, I was there quickly. Now, we have hundreds of disasters, so what's important is that we settle the hundred or so disasters,” he said.

Mr. Legault cites the floods that occurred in Baie-Saint-Paul in 2023 as an example. “It was easy to say ‘I’m going to Baie-Saint-Paul,’ but when there are hundreds of places, do I go to Lanaudière? ? Do I go to Mauricie? ?”

Six days after the torrential rains that hit Quebec, his choice fell on Louiseville, in Mauricie, and more specifically on the Comtois multiservice health and social services centre, one of the places whose basement was flooded. On site, a disaster cleanup team was working to sort and dehumidify the basement, where “nearly 5 feet of water” had seeped in, according to Sandra-Kim Vouligny, director of proximity, partnership and fluidity at the CIUSS de la Mauricie et du Centre-du-Québec.

The damage is mainly concentrated in the archives, which will be salvaged, and in the day centre for clients with intellectual disabilities. The latter will be moving soon. A particular challenge, because this is a “clientele that we have to be careful with, we don’t want to uproot them,” said Ms. Vouligny. On Thursday morning, the power was still out, but a generator was powering the building, allowing the rest of the centre to operate normally.

Regarding Mr. Legault’s choice to go to a health facility rather than one of the 250 flooded residences, Mayor Yvon Deshaies said he was “disappointed.” “He could have gone there [to see residences]. I would have liked that for sure. I would have shown him some.” […] But I'm not going to twist his arm,” he said in a press scrum that followed the prime minister's visit.

The remains of Debby

The rainfall caused by Debbyreached 200 mm in 24 hours in some places. The regions of Montreal, the Laurentians, Lanaudière and Mauricie were particularly affected. At the height of the storm, on Friday evening, no fewer than 550,000 Hydro-Québec customers were without power.

According to François Bonnardel, last weekend, 86 municipalities were affected by the bad weather. On Wednesday, there were still 34. There were also 38 flooded residences out of the 2,300 that were affected and, in total, 464 people were evacuated.

In addition, nearly 170 roads were damaged. Highway 13 in Montreal was able to reopen Thursday morning, but more work will be needed in the coming weeks. A warning has been issued regarding landslides that could occur, most often in clay soils.

With The Canadian Press

Read also

• “I know it's extremely difficult,” François Bonnardel tells victims of “Debby”
• Quebec is slowly recovering from storm “Debby”