Spring flood: Restoration work begins, and information evenings for flood victims hosted by the ministère de la Sécurité publique

Gatineau, May 7, 2019. – Ville de Gatineau is getting ready for the restoration work. That being said, you are reminded to remain vigilant and to keep the dikes in place for the time being. Municipal crews are still out in force.

The ministère de la Sécurité publique will hold two information evenings for the flood victims, on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 21 and 22 at 7 p.m., at the centre sportif, 850, boulevard de la Gappe. The evenings are intended to present the new financial assistance program and answer questions from the flood victims

Quick facts

●	Ville de Gatineau is continuing to keep a close eye on the situation. Water levels are slowly receding, but the process will take time.

●	Between 25 and 35 mm of rain is expected from Thursday to Friday this week, so it is important to remain vigilant and to keep the dikes in place for the time being.

●	Weather conditions and melting snow to the north could still have an impact and cause water levels to rise.

●	To date, 2068 people are registered with Gatineau, representing 996 households, including 1751 adults and 317 children.

●	A donations centre has been set up at Promenades de Gatineau, and will remain open until Wednesday, as follows: - Tuesday, May 7, from noon to 4:30 p.m. - Wednesday, May 8, from noon to 9 p.m.

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Gatineau thanks residents for their tremendous generosity. To date, this collection of donations organized in collaboration with our partners, Moisson Outaouais and Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, has brought in: - more than 11,000 kg of food supplies; - close to 1500 kg of personal hygiene and cleaning products; and - more than 10,000 kg of clothing.

Information evenings hosted by the ministère de la Sécurité publique

●	These evenings are organized by the ministère de la Sécurité publique to present the financial assistance program and answer questions from the flood victims.

●	Flood victims will be able to set up an appointment with a claims officer on site following the presentation.

●	The appointments will be held starting on May 22 in temporary offices set up at the aréna Campeau, at 165, rue des Sables

●	Flood victims can file a claim online right now under the Government of Quebec financial assistance program.

●	The Service de l'urbanisme et du développement durable de la Ville de Gatineau will have a booth at the information evening sessions. Our representatives will be on hand to explain the applicable rules and the steps that flood victims should take, particularly in regard to applying for permits.

●	The following partners will also be on hand to answer questions: CISSSO, the Red Cross, Hydro-Québec, Gazifère, the Insurance Bureau of Canada, the local employment centre, Services Canada and organizations helping with relocations.

●	The STO is providing shuttles for the flood victims. Stops will be announced shortly.

Municipal actions while water levels recede

●	Gatineau reminds the public that even though water levels are gradually receding, several streets may remain closed or open to local traffic only until they can be restored.

●	There are a number of steps required before the situation returns to normal, and they will be spread over several weeks.

●	The impact of flooding on a road is similar to what happens during the spring thaw. Full recovery after a flood may take several weeks.

●	Water saturation may cause reduce load capacity. There may be from 2 to 15 times more damage.

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As soon as the water recedes from a street, Gatineau will have to go through the following steps before it can be re-opened: - assess the street, and determine the degree of erosion and its condition; - run load tests; - clean away the debris; - reopen the street and update the map; and - as soon as a street is opened, the Service de sécurité incendie visits the residents and informs them of the next steps in regard to the resumption of power and gas supplies;

●	The goal is to open the streets up as quickly as possible while ensuring the safety of residents.

●	It may take several weeks to re-open all of the streets.

●	Some streets will need to be repaired before they can be re-opened: - rue Notre-Dame where the culvert between Labrosse and Verchère will have to be changed; and - rue Sanscartier, where the road has collapsed between Plouffe and Notre-Dame.

Garbage collection

●	The regular garbage collection schedule will be maintained as much as possible.

●	If a sector becomes inaccessible, containers will be provided to the flood victims for their household garbage. These will be available from the day before the regular garbage collection day until 4 p.m. the following day.

●	Special collections will be organized in due time for the flood victims to collect their demolition debris. Containers will be installed to that end at several locations in the areas affected by the flood.

Recovery of sandbags

●	Gatineau reminds affected residents to remain vigilant and to keep their dikes in place as long as possible.

●	Once the flooding is over and the dikes can be removed, dirty sandbags will have to be placed inside the property line, and not on the road or on the sidewalk.

●	A giant solidarity blitz is being organized to collect all the sandbags after the flooding is over.

●	Details will be provided in due time.

Associated document

Stages of restoration before a street is re-opened after the flooding is over.

Associated links

Spring flood

Ministère de la Sécurité publique – Flood

Claim online under the Government of Quebec financial assistance program.

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