Flooding: Québec assists Baie-Saint-Paul with security wall upgrade

The Mares River flows by the Genevrier campground after a major spring flood forced the closing of roads and major highway, Tuesday, May 2, 2023 in Baie Saint-Paul Que. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

The Quebec government is providing Baie-Saint-Paul with nearly one million dollars to improve the municipality's resilience in the face of floods like the one that shook the town this spring.

The Minister of Municipal Affairs, Andrée Laforest, made the announcement Wednesday morning in the town located in the Charlevoix region.

The $917,320 in funding will be used to upgrade the security of a flood wall, the government explained in a press release.

A study will be conducted on how to carry out the work on the wall, which borders the Rivière du Gouffre in downtown Baie-Saint-Paul.

The banks of the Rivière du Gouffre suddenly overflowed in early May, cutting the municipality in two and closing the Leclerc Bridge.

The event led to several evacuations, but above all to the deaths of two firefighters, Régis Lavoie and Christopher Lavoie, who were swept away by the waters.

This report was first published in French by The Canadian Press on July 19, 2023.