Sagune flood: “The safety of the people of Gaius was never discovered”

25 years ago, Quebec Sagune experienced one of its worst natural disasters by floods. On July 19 and 20, 1996, heavy rains and flooding of rivers caused a real flood that tore almost everything in its path.

• read more: 25 years ago, the Sagune flood

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At the start of the disaster, it rained non-stop for three days, recalls Jean Tremble, former mayor of Sakuna.

In an interview with LCN, the notary at the time recalled a few hours before the flood began.

“Usually, we have a storm there, nothing. It started to rain, but heavy rain. Usually, it’s very intense, it lasts less than 20 minutes, sometimes it’s three days! I remember one of my friends who went on vacation. He had a pool on the ground above him and I usually went to his house to empty it because his pool was overflowing, ”said the former mayor.

What happened next was “unimaginable”, Mr. Tremble,

Dams were torn down, houses displaced, cut down; The disaster is enormous.

“There was a small river 2 meters away in the Arvida field, no more than that. This river occupies an neighborhood, but in an unusual way!”

Even Keys ‘famous Deszardins’ greatest protection was missing in the water.

“Safe is a complete apartment we entered … they never found it!” I saw a snowstorm swirling in the river. The strength of the current … we know it is strong, but we have reached it as before, ”he explains.

In 48 hours, the ecosystem received 275 mm of rain over Sagune-Lock-Saint-Jean and part of the North Coast, unprecedented for Canada.

Ten people were killed in the flood, and two children slept in their basement.

Several attempts were made by a community to rescue them.

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