Canada – Over 4,400 Homes Flooded in Quebec

by in Americas, News

Urgence Québec have released further data regarding the ongoing flood situation that has affected the province since early May.

The disaster agency said that, as of 11 May 2017, 4,485 residences are flooded and 3,641 people evacuated. Throughout the province 552 roads remain affected by the floods.

Flooding has been reported in at least 8 regions; Mauricie, Montréal, Outaouais, Laval, Lanaudière, Laurentides and Montérégie.

A total of 187 cities or municipalities are affected, with as many as 21 declaring a local state of emergency.

Prime Minister – Rebuild Better in Face of Increased Extreme Weather Threat

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau toured some of the affected areas by helicopter with Premier  Philippe Couillard on Thursday 11 May, 2017.

He told reporters that affected communities faced a long cleanup operation:

“As the Minister of Defense has said, with the military we arrive quickly but we leave slowly. We know there’s lots of work still to do and all levels of government – federal, provincial, municipal – will continue to work together to take care of our citizens and to make sure that we’re doing the right things in the coming weeks and months of cleanup and hard work.”

He also stressed the need for officials at all levels of government to develop a rebuilding strategy that makes communities more resistant and resilient to increase threats from extreme weather events linked to climate change.

“One of the things that we are aware of is that the frequency of extreme weather events is increasing and it’s related to climate change. We’re going to have to understand that bracing for a hundred year storm is maybe going to happen every 10 years now or every few years. That means that as we look to rebuild our communities, our homes, our infrastructures, we’re going to have to think about what what we can do to rebuild better to rebuild in ways that are going to be more resistant more resilient to the unpredictability we are now living.”

List of Quebec cities and municipalities that have declared a local state of emergency:

  • Mauricie​​ – ​Yamachiche
  • ​Montréal – ​Montréal (Île Mercier, Île-Bizard-Sainte-Geneviève, Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Ahunstic-Cartierville and Senneville)
  • ​Outaouais – ​Pontiac, Mansfield-et-Pontefract and ​Gracefield
  • ​​Laval – Laval
  • Lanaudière – ​Sainte-Geneviève-de-Berthier, ​Saint-Barthélemy, ​Saint-Ignace-de Loyola, ​Lavaltrie
    ​​Lanoraie, ​​La Visitation-de-l’Île-Dupas, ​Ville de Saint-Gabriel, ​Berthierville​
  • ​Laurentides – ​Saint-Eustache, ​Deux-Montagnes
  • ​​Montérégie – ​Rigaud, L’Île Cadieux, ​Terrasse-Vaudreuil, ​Pincourt, L’Île-Perrot​

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