Residents who had to flee their homes in the small Quebec community of Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac when a 40-year-old dike burst on April 27 have been assured by the Quebec Environment Minister that a new dike will be built.
鈥淲e will be able to build a stronger dike,鈥� said Benoit Charette at a press conference. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not the solution for all the cases that happened in the last week, but we had to do something special for Sainte Marthe.鈥�
Details of the new dike鈥檚 construction were scarce. Charette says he 鈥渃annot give any specific details鈥� and that he wants to protect people first.
Quebec has offered incentives of up to $250,000 for residents to move out of flood zones, but it is undetermined if Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac falls into that category.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 know at this moment if everyone will be able to rebuild their home at the same place,鈥� said Charette.
For residents, clean-up is a daunting task 鈥� local resident Karen Vaage told CTV News that 鈥渆verything is gone, my life is over here.鈥�
鈥淲e were so happy to have this little place,鈥� Vaage said. 鈥淣ow we have nothing, and nowhere to go and I don鈥檛 know what we鈥檙e going to do.鈥�
