‘Smoke and mirrors’: Quebec residents feel abandoned after August flooding

Quebec has made payments in less than 10 per cent of the nearly 10,000 claims it has received since the remnants of Hurricane Debby hit the province in August.

The Quebec government has made payments in less than 10 per cent of the nearly 10,000 claims it has received since the remnants of Hurricane Debby hit the province in August, causing severe flooding and damage.

In Montreal, which received a record-breaking 150 millimetres of rain during the storm, the government has paid out just nine of the 1,900 claims it has received, despite an early suggestion from Premier François Legault that he would expand access to financial aid for flood victims.

Though some files are still open, many residents who suffered tens of thousands of dollars in damage are left feeling abandoned by municipal and provincial officials who gave them reason to hope help was coming — only to later make it clear they were on their own.

“The government’s promise to expand aid was all smoke and mirrors,” said Isabelle Leblanc, a suburban Montreal resident whose basement flooded, causing $45,000 in damage. “They were just playing with words.”

The storm walloped southern Quebec on Aug. 9 and 10, washing out roads, leaving half a million households without power and flooding thousands of homes. Basements in many areas filled up with several feet of wastewater after sewers were overwhelmed, destroying floors, walls and furniture.

In September, the Insurance Bureau of Canada calculated the storm was the costliest severe weather event in Quebec’s history, surpassing the 1998 ice storm. Initial estimates suggested the remnants of Hurricane Debby caused nearly $2.5 billion in insured damage.

After the storm, Legault suggested his government would temporarily expand a provincial assistance program for disaster victims. The program previously compensated homeowners only for water damage caused by overflowing lakes and rivers, but Legault said it could be extended to include sewer backups. Private insurance typically covers sewer backups, but many people suffered more damage than their insurance would cover.

“Why was there a sewer backup? It’s because there was a flood,” Legault said during a visit to a hard-hit community a week after the storm. “So at a certain point you have to use common sense.”