J.D. Potié
PONTIAC May 5, 2019
Within the last few weeks, rising waters have devastated various parts of the region forcing hundreds of residents to leave their homes behind having to find shelter elsewhere.
From the Tim Hortons Camp in Quyon to L’École secondaire Sieur de Coulonge (ESSC) in Mansfield, a number of organizations in various municipalities have opened their doors to help out the hapless victims.
Offering all kinds of amenities, including around 40 beds, a set of showers and countless toothbrushes, the shelter at ESSC was designed to make the evacuees feel safe and comfortable despite being forced out of their homes for an undetermined period.
According to one of the coordinators of ESSC’s evacuee shelter in Mansfield, Lucille Bélair, the volunteers have received a generous amount of donations from numerous people in different municipalities since opening their doors to the public.
The generosity of their fellow residents has certainly lightened their work-load and reassured victims that everything they need is at their disposal, Bélair said.
“These people are vulnerable,” she said. “They arrive here feeling vulnerable, because they’re in a situation of crisis. So, they need help. We offer mental health services at the entrance. These people really need help, any way they need it. They need to be reassured that someone is there to help and that they have a place to stay.”
Open 24 hours per day with around 10 volunteers, Red Cross nurses on hand around the clock and Sûreté du Québec officers constantly patrolling the area, victims found comfort knowing that their safety and well-being was prioritized, Bélair said.
“You can knock here at midnight or 1:00 a.m., it doesn’t matter,” she said. “At any time, they can come in. We also have surveillance, as the Sûreté du Québec is patrolling the municipality at all times. It’s great because we know they’re close.”
For Davidson resident William Smith, the floods have been emotionally challenging after he lost his waterside home to the hands of Mother Nature. His family has owned the property since the mid-sixties and the home meant a whole lot more to him than just a place to sleep at night.
“My house is going to be demolished,” said Smith. “It’s finished. It’s sad. You can’t believe it because that was my grandparents’ house since 1966-67. I got water up passed my doors on the truck and then some. It’s a disaster.”
Smith said he visited the shelter at ESSC to seek any kind of support he can get, whether it be emotional or hygenic.
According to Smith, the 2017 floods weren’t close to being as destructive as this year’s struggles with inundation, as he didn’t need to remove anything from inside his home, at the time.
But this year, the water levels rose extremely quickly, eventually finding its way into his home and damaging nearly every property on his street.
“In 2017, it was high, but I didn’t have to lift anything,” he said. “Now, I took out all my furniture. I got 12 inches of water in my house quickly. It’s across the road and everything. The whole area is done, completely from Lafrance street all the way down past the wharf. The damage is extreme.”
His plan going forward is to keep his property if the opportunity presents itself. He says he wants to build up a mobile home that he could move once flood season rolls around.
“We’re going to see if the government’s going to pay out or whatever,” he said. “I don’t know. But, if I can keep my property, I’ll build it up again. I’ll get a trailer instead – a mobile home. I’ll put it there and I’ll pull it out in the spring when worse comes to worse.”
For Quyon resident Cloe Hunter, the floods have forced her and her kids to take refuge at the Tim Hortons Camp in the municipality, while her boyfriend does what he can to mitigate the damage.
Hunter was one of the several hundred people evacuated from the village last week. But, thankfully, it hasn’t found its way inside the home.
“We can’t live there,” said Hunter. “We can’t shower or nothing because our water is infected. And we have water up to our chest outside of our house.”
Having helped fill around seven thousand sandbags in the last two weeks to keep the water out of her house, Hunter isn’t completely certain that the wall will hold up all the way through.
For Hunter, the most distressing part about the 2019 floods was having to find a new place to live, which has been especially hard on her kids because they aren’t able to be with their father.
“It’s nice here, but it’s not home,” she said. “And it’s hard for them because they don’t see their dad – not that much anymore because he has to stay at the house to keep the water out.” According to Hunter, the water levels rose so fast that her family couldn’t react in time to do much to stop it.
“It went like that, in the blink of an eye,” she said. “One morning there was water up to our knees. We woke up the next morning and it was up to our chests.”
Despite how difficult the situation has been on her family and her home, Hunter says she’s holding up quite well because her family was well prepared knowing that potentially devastating floods were coming this year.
“We knew it was coming so we’re not surprised about it,” she said.
With nearly 20 people assisting her family mitigate the damage from her property, Hunter was very appreciative of her fellow residents for taking the time out of their days to be so benevolent and gracious.
“It’s hard for people to have to stop their day jobs to come and help,” she said. “It’s very appreciated. It melted our hearts that people came. But there’s a bunch of other people who lost their houses because they didn’t have help.”
Hunter believes her home will survive the 2019 floods when it’s all said and done, however, she doesn’t expect to set foot in there anytime soon.
“We’re going to stay here for a while,” she said. “It sucks. But, we need to wait until the water comes down.”
In the case of Mansfield resident Christian Godin, the floods have been especially distressing.
As an owner of two properties in Mansfield and Fort-Coulonge, the rising waters have been incredibly difficult to manage.
“I have seven pumps working night and day,” he said. “We’re just trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel and to fight. It’s hard because a battle against Mother Nature isn’t always something we can win.”
Thankful for the aid of countless volunteers helping him fill sandbags to barricade both his homes from the rising tides, Godin was emotional speaking about the generosity of his fellow neighbors in his time of struggle.
“It’s very difficult,” he said. “We’ve had tremendous help from volunteers from everywhere. It’s truly astonishing to see everyone helping each other out in both villages. I’ve filled sandbags to no end, day and night. The assistance from friends and volunteers helps a lot. It’s incredible to see the amount of people out there just to help others. It tugs your heart.”
However, the saddest part about watching his home town be at the mercy of such a disasterous situation is seeing residents lose nearly everything they own, all while knowing that they’re fighting a losing battle in the end.
“All the personal belongings, like pictures,” he said. “Some of it’s packed up and we don’t know where. It could be underwater. That’s the hardest part for certain people. I’m sure it happens that things get destroyed by water. It’s something you try to fight against. But, at some point you have to give up. It’s tough.”
For now, Godin’s plan is to stay strong and prepare for whatever fate Mother Nature serves us next.
“We’re not completely out of it yet,” he sai d. “They’re still announcing a lot of rain and snow. I’m not ready to say that we’re out of this, as of now.”
For Mansfield resident Roxanne Ladouceur, the 2019 floods have been a traumatic experience.
As a caretaker for people with mental disabilities, Ladouceur was tasked with helping evacuate her own home as well as five others.
Despite having started to pump water as soon as she saw the water levels coming up, nothing could be done to stop the water from flowing in.
Having renovated her floors just under a month ago, Ladouceur said the damage was extremely heart-breaking.
“We lost control of the water because we were at the river level,” she said. “Now, there’s water on our floors and it’s a disaster. There’s a lot of damage. Our septic tank, electric panel, furnace, hot water tank, the floors were just renovated. Only two weeks ago, we were done our renovations, so it’s pretty devastating.”
Despite how destructive the floods have been to property and the people in her hometown, Ladouceur was blown away by the number of residents volunteering to help out their neighbours, during a period of emotional turmoil.
“The community is just mind-blowing,” she said. “It’s unbelievable to see how everybody gets together to reach out and help because at one point I didn’t know. They were asking me what to throw out and I was just not there anymore – disconnected from reality because it was so painful.”
Ladouceur said her mentality going forward is to stay strong, because it’s not over and a lot more people are still greatly affected.
As part of the municipality’s emergency evacuation plan, ESSC was declared as the optimal place for Mansfield to harbour evacuees as it isn’t a threat to severe flooding, being on the town’s high ground.
According to ESSC Principal Julie Martin, the level of collaboration and togetherness residents have demonstrated throughout the 2019 floods have been a prime example of just what makes Pontiacers as strong and resilient as any community around.
“It’s where we see that the people in the community are resilient,” said Martin. “Our community is resilient and our people support each other no matter the difficulties. Some people who lost everything are still putting in the effort to fill sandbags. It’s amazing to see that.”
