Residents of Quebec town still struggle with aftermath of 2019 dike break, flooding
CTV
Four years after flooding forced the evacuation of more than 6,000 residents of Ste-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, Que., and damaged hundreds of homes, there is plenty of anger from residents who say they're still suffering from the financial and emotional consequences. Earlier this month, a class-action lawsuit against the municipality and the province on behalf of flooding victims was authorized to move forward.
Sylvie Béchard had only owned her little brick house for six months when her neighbour came banging on her door on the night of April 27, 2019. The dike holding back the Lake of Two Mountains had been breached, and floodwaters were rushing toward her home.
"She said 'Sylvie, we have to evacuate, the dike has given out. We're being flooded,'" Béchard recalled recently.
Four years after flooding forced the evacuation of more than 6,000 residents of Ste-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, Que., and damaged hundreds of homes, there is plenty of anger from residents who say they're still suffering from the financial and emotional consequences. Earlier this month, a class-action lawsuit against the municipality and the province on behalf of flooding victims was authorized to move forward.
Béchard remembers the days that followed the breach, when Armed Forces or police would take her by boat down the flooded streets of the town northwest of Montreal to retrieve a few belongings. When she was finally able to return, 11 days later, the scene was "hell," she said.
While the ground floor was high enough to be spared, her basement had filled with five feet of stagnant water, destroying her living room, two bedrooms, and all her photos, clothes and personal effects. "Everything I accumulated in my life was there," she said in an interview.
Richard Lauzon, another Ste-Marthe resident, also saw his life plans washed away with the 2019 flooding. Lauzon owned two homes in the community: one for himself and one that was intended for his elderly parents.
One house was demolished due to flood damage. The other he sold at a loss after becoming tired of what he describes as the lack of responsiveness from the municipal and provincial governments to questions about being compensated for the repairs.
