BAIE-SAINT-PAUL — Victims of Baie-Saint-Paul, in Charlevoix, are quietly returning home. The Leclerc bridge reopened to traffic on Tuesday afternoon, which made it possible to reconnect the two parts of the municipality which had been separated by the waters at the level of the Gouffre river.
However, citizens will still have to be patient. “Residents who have been evacuated, you are asked not to return to your residence until the City has given you permission. It’s not a question of control, it’s a question of security, ”explained the mayor of Baie-Saint-Paul, Michaël Pilote, in a press briefing late Tuesday afternoon.
It is therefore once again possible to get to Les Éboulements and La Malbaie by route 362. However, heavy vehicles cannot use it and must instead take routes 175 and 172.
There will also be information sessions on government relief programs for disaster victims on Thursday. The breach in the drinking water network has been sealed. However, the boil water advisory is still in effect.
Prime Minister François Legault will travel to Baie-Saint-Paul on Wednesday morning.
“I tell you that the worst is over”
On site Tuesday during the day, his Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, said he believed that the worst would be over after a violent flood of the Gouffre River which forced the evacuation of nearly 600 people. However, he was cautious.
“I tell you the worst is over. (…) Unfortunately, we are still expecting a few more showers: between 10 and 30 millimeters of rain in the next few hours. Let’s give ourselves another 24 to 48 hours to take stock of all this, ”he explained at a press briefing Tuesday morning in Baie-Saint-Paul with his colleagues Jonatan Julien and Karianne Bourassa as well as the mayor, Michaël Pilot.
Minister Bonnardel said it was too early to assess the cost of the damage.
He then flew by helicopter to Saint-Urbain, because the road leading there was still closed at that time.
Although it was less affected than Baie-Saint-Paul in terms of material damage, the village is grieved by the disappearance of two firefighters who were swept away by the waters while they were helping isolated citizens.
“We still have to have hope. All resources are on the ground. We are doing everything, everything, everything we can to be able to find these missing people. We know that it is not obvious what is happening in the community, which is tightly woven,” said the minister.
At his side, Mayor Claudette Simard said she was impressed by the deployment of resources, helicopters, boats, drones and others involved in the search. She underlined the solidarity and the mutual aid of the citizens who had marked the last hours.
Prime Minister Legault, from Quebec, had these comments about the natural disaster: “It’s sad and then if we talk about the disappearance of the two firefighters, I would even say that it’s awful, it’s tragic, It reminds us of the role of first responders. We sometimes forget it there, but these people take risks for us.
The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) is relentlessly pursuing the search in the hope of finding the two men.
“Climate change is hitting us”
François Bonnardel recognized that adapting to climate change represents a major challenge for municipalities and that they are often powerless to deal with reconstruction following a natural disaster like the one that is currently shaking Charlevoix.
“Climate change is hitting us and we must react and invest the substantial sums to secure Quebec,” said the minister.
The question of adaptation to climate change was also echoed in the National Assembly on Tuesday.
The Parti Québécois calls on the Legault government to take action to better equip Quebec municipalities to deal with extreme weather events.
“If this kind of extreme weather event becomes the norm. If also the heat islands in summer become unlivable. We must green and adapt urban planning. It’s a reality and unfortunately no, we don’t see any sign of a government that takes it really seriously,” said PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
In a press briefing, Liberal leader Marc Tanguay suggested that the renegotiation of the fiscal pact could be an opportunity to take into account adaptation to climate change. “It’s okay, when tragedy happens, to invest funds to repair, stem. But what can we do upstream? It will take money,” he said.
“François Legault must send a message to municipalities and people on the ground that the Government of Quebec will be there and that it will significantly increase its investments”, supported, for his part, the parliamentary leader of Quebec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.
An announcement soon
In a press scrum, François Legault maintained that by adding up “all the programs of the various ministries, there is already $1.2 billion which is available for the municipalities for adaptation to climate change”.
He added that his Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, will soon announce “additional amounts” from the $1.4 billion envelope that the last budget provided for the reduction of GHGs and adaptation to climate change. , without however specifying the magnitude of the amount that will be added specifically to climate change or if it will be specifically intended for municipalities.
“There are needs for adaptation to climate change. We are already doing a lot. We will have to continue to do so because there will indeed be more and more impacts, ”he acknowledged.
battle of numbers
The Union of Municipalities of Quebec (UMQ), however, says that the actual amount that Quebec makes available to them is more like $547 million. However, municipalities ask for nothing less than $2 billion per year for adaptation to climate change, a figure that François Legault questioned.
“First, I would like to know where this $2 billion comes from. This is a request from the municipalities, but now we have already invested $1.2 billion. Then it is a cost that must be shared between the municipalities and the government of Quebec,” said the Premier.
Despite everything, his remarks let it be understood that we will have no choice, both in Quebec and at the municipal level, but to plan for increased expenses for situations of this type: “What happens in Baie-Saint- Paul, it’s exceptional, but it could happen again. So we adjust.”
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