Storm Debby relief to be expanded

Photo:  Ryan Remiorz The Canadian Press Prime Minister François Legault during a press briefing, Friday afternoon

Leo Mercier-Ross

Posted at 3:55 p.m. Updated at 4:51 p.m.

• Quebec

After announcing on Thursday that he was considering expanding government assistance offered to victims of storm Debby, Quebec Premier François Legault confirmed on Friday that the aid program would be more “flexible.”

Before that, people who suffered a flood with an insurable cause, such as a sewer backup, were not eligible for government compensation.

Each situation will be evaluated on a “case by case” basis, explained the Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, during a press briefing given Friday afternoon in the company of François Legault and the minister responsible for the Lanaudière region and of Tourism, Caroline Proulx. “I do not want to absolve insurance companies of their responsibility,” he said, reminding affected citizens to file their claims.

Since the launch, at following the passage of the storm, the General Financial Assistance Program during disasters, 1,834 people, 178 municipalities and one company made a request, revealed Mr. Bonnardel. As of Friday, more than $38,000 had been distributed through the program.

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The Minister of Public Security also took the opportunity to take stock, one week after the storm. The situation has “greatly improved,” he says. Twenty municipalities are still affected, and there are still around twenty roads to repair; at the start of the week, there were 180 that needed repairs. François Bonnardel was, however, unable to provide a timeline for repairs to the remaining roads, noting that they are mainly located in the Lanaudière region and Mauricie.

< p>On Friday, the Ministry of Transportation released a summary of road conditions in Lanaudière, stating that 10 full closures and 4 partial closures were still in effect. It said it would undertake work on 11 of these sites. In the region, 39 incidents related to storm Debby that caused obstructions on the road network were reported. Of these, 25 roads or structures have been reopened to traffic, the ministry said in a press release.

According to data from Minister Bonnardel, there are also 52 people still isolated. The landslide situation has “deteriorated”: their number has climbed from just over 120 to 187. François Legault also indicated that the 12 people that the mayor of Louiseville had asked for as reinforcements to his citizens had been “found.” “We don’t need to send the army.”

Up to 50 mm of rain this weekend

Even though rain is expected to fall in Quebec this weekend, additional damage should not occur, even though several regions are still weakened by last Friday's heavy rains.

François Legault indicated that between 15 and 25 millimetres of precipitation are expected on average. “However, there are certain sub-regions of Lanaudière where it can go up to 50 millimetres,” he said. Generally speaking, if we exclude these three or four municipalities in Lanaudière, it should not cause additional damage this weekend.”

Caroline Proulx, for her part, asked people who have chalets located in the north of Lanaudière to avoid going there “this evening and this weekend” because of the danger currently posed by the forest roads that found in the region and which generally have to be taken to reach homes. “It’s a region with a particular character, more vulnerable,” he explains. elle.

To reduce as much as possible the effect of the rains which will affect the region, Ms. Proulx stressed that as a preventive measure, the “nearly 600 private dams and municipal in northern Lanaudière” will be “opened gradually to ensure water flow.”

With The Canadian Press< /i>