Unusable toilets, broken generators, evenings in the dark: the ordeal continued Thursday for the thousands of Quebecers without electricity who have lived, for a week, as in the soap opera Les Pays d’en haut.
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Completely exhausted, Murielle Grandmaison lives alone in her house on Chemin Vertmont, in Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury. She’s been guarding the fort for seven days without a generator. The young grandmother heats her residence with a wood stove, but she spends her evenings by candlelight.
“I’m fed up, I’m starting to get tired. Since the beginning, I’ve been fetching water every day at the community center and I take my shower there, ”says the one who greeted the arrival of her son and his small family for a few hours.
For someone who has lived in this area for 30 years, this is a historic outage.
“It’s the longest we’ve had here. Even the ice storm [in 1998] wasn’t that bad for us,” she says.
A few houses further, Anne-Marie Foucault explains that the generator has just failed after six days of almost non-stop use. “We had propane delivered, but the generator didn’t work. One moment is too much,” said the lady.
Christmas with strangers
Arrived in their new house in Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury on December 24, Julie Savoie and Sylvain Pierre had a hard time during their move.
“People used to tell us, ‘You’re crazy moving in the winter. We said to ourselves, “It’s going to be okay”, but we couldn’t imagine these conditions, “says the spouse of French origin.
The solidarity of the citizens of Chemin Vertmont allowed the couple without a generator and without a wood heater to wake up warm, while the neighbors opposite Sarah Fortier and Vincent Bertrand became their new friends.
“We didn’t know them and they all had dinner with us, the couple and their two French friends. We made ourselves a fondue supper, ”says Ms. Fortier, who certainly did not expect to spend Christmas night with complete strangers.
Disturbing experience
Claude Vézina, who works as a supervisor and guide at the Stoneham Community Center, has seen all the colors for a week. He even qualifies his experience as disturbing, because he welcomed several citizens in distress.
Elderly people, pregnant women, new arrivals: the shelter has been of essential help to these residents. “Phew! I’ve seen people who haven’t showered for a few days. Some are really tired, depressed and helpless,” confirms the man.
By late Thursday evening, more than 2,400 customers were still without power.
Deprived of electricity for seven days, Manon Perron, resident of Saint-Raymond, in Portneuf, no longer believes all the recovery forecasts issued by the “model” electricity company of Quebecers.
“Hydro says the remaining outages take snowmobiles, ATVs with tracks, and snowshoes to get to houses and fix the system. Nope ! Nope ! Nope ! the rest of us are in a residential area. You don’t need snowshoes here, you’ll surrender, ”says the mother, out of patience.
The current no longer flows
It is especially the communication with Hydro-Quebec which is to be deplored, according to the mayor of Saint-Raymond, Claude Duplain.
“We left Friday morning [December 23]. Saturday noon, we had no communication with Hydro-Québec. Here, it was a total blackout. I had to make a phone call. And there, they came at least to connect us to the multifunctional center so that we could receive the population. After a day and a half, there are people panicking, ”he explained to TVA Nouvelles.
For his part, the member for Matane-Matapédia, Pascal Bérubé, wonders about the crisis management by Hydro-Québec and the government.
He believes that the president of Hydro-Québec, Sophie Brochu, and the ministers concerned could have held a joint press briefing to take stock of the situation.
“We don’t choose the moment when it happens. […] At the local level, I felt it was my responsibility to come and reassure my world, ”says the one who ended his vacation on Tuesday to return to his constituency.
National Capital 929
Laurentians 443
North Shore 432
Mauricie 357
Source: Hydro-Québec, report at 10 p.m.
