Chicoutimi: 18 people evacuated after two landslides

Eighteen people had to be evacuated as a precaution in Chicoutimi, in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, due to two ground detachments that occurred on Friday evening.

• Read also: Saguenay: victims reassured despite questions

• Read also: The slope where the landslide took place in La Baie will be softened

A landslide on rue Joseph-Dandurand arrested citizens around 6:30 p.m. on Friday.

“The Civil Security received calls from citizens that there had been ground detachments. We are more on the lookout following the landslides in La Baie,” explained Marie-Ève ​​Carrier, spokesperson for the City of Saguenay.

Two blocks of six and eight dwellings were evacuated.

The causes behind this minor slip remain unknown at this time.

In the Rivière-du-Moulin district, on rue Saint-Timothée, another minor landslide occurred, forcing the evacuation of three other residences.

“A rocky mass of five cubic meters which broke off, then since we don’t know at all what will happen when it decides to tumble down, we decided to evacuate,” said Ms. Carrier.

Eighteen people were evacuated in total. Two citizens have been relocated so far.

“I found it very hard, I spent my time shaking, I had trouble packing,” testified a woman who has to leave her house.

“I don’t even know who to go to, where to find out,” said an evacuee, who returned home around Friday evening to collect his belongings.

All citizens affected by the landslides were taken care of by the Red Cross.

“There is no chance to take on these occasions,” said Carol Girard, chief of the fire department and emergency measures coordinator in Saguenay. “There is a potential danger, but it was really a summary assessment, so we will continue the studies to find out what really happened.”

Englobe’s ground motion experts will be back in the field on Monday to continue their analyses.

“What is important for the moment is that people can recover their apartment, their house. So there is emergency work that will be done following the recommendations of the firm Englobe,” said Mr. Girard.

This situation is all the more worrying since it takes place a few days after a major landslide in another borough of Saguenay, in La Baie, where nearly a hundred people had to be evacuated.

Since then, the Legault government had increased from $260,000 to $385,000 the maximum amount that will be granted to victims who will lose their residence due to the landslide.

In order to make the place safe, the Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ) intends to soften the slope, which is currently 20 meters.