By Rosoly Castro
EBC Canada Bureau
(Eagle News) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited on Thursday, April 25, the Jena-Rene-Morette Center, one of the Disaster Centers in Gatineau, Quebec, to check on flood victims.
Afterwhich, he rolled up his sleeves to start sandbagging, helping out Canadian Troops. He thanked the Canadian Army for their hardwork and their continued effort in assisting the community.
Canadian Armed Forces continue to assist in sandbagging. Residents piled up sand bags in the perimeter of their property.
As more areas are affected by the flood, roads have been closed and traffic rerouted.
-Gatineau mayor says they have to be on guard until crisis is over-
Gatineau, Quebec mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin said that they were currently in a “strange situation” as everybody had been mobilized but there is still the chance that things could change very quickly.
He said that they have to “stay on guard” until the crisis is over.
“Actually we’re in a strange situation. We have protected the houses, everybody is mobilized, and we’re looking at the sky and at the weather forecast to see if anything worse happens,” he told Eagle News Service in Canada.
“So everything is under control as we speak but as we’ve seen it in the past — things can change very very quickly. It changed in 2017 in 24 hours. So we’ll stay on guard up until we’re a hundred percent sure that the crisis is over,” he said.
-Relocation of houses to be addressed-
After the crisis, the local government of Gatineau will still have to address other related problems, such as the relocation of houses in the area.
The mayor said that they want a “solution that is long lasting.”
“Actually that’s a huge topic that we have to address,” Mayor Pedneaud-Jobin said when asked by Eagle News about the relocation of houses in the area.
“Discussions have started but we’ll have to address that after the crisis. Many citizens are preoccupied.
In all levels of government, we want a solution that is long lasting. But that’s gonna take lots of discussion because we’ll have hard decisions to take,” he said.
According to Ottawa River Planning Board, levels of the Ottawa River will continue to rise from the recent rainfall and snowmelt over the central part of the basin.
In the forecast, peak levels observed in 2017 maybe possible in all locations depending in the upcoming rain and precipitation.
The City of Gatineau has provided Disaster Services Center for flood victims. City officials say around 517 people have registered.
-More volunteers needed-
Residents across Gatineau continue to make emergency preparations a the cities of Ottawa nad Gatineau call for more volunteers to help in the sandbagging, and in the distribution of sandbags to the communities.
Urgence Quebec says to date, there are around 2517 residents flooded and 919 were evacuated across Quebec.
(Eagle News Service)
