Quebec premier François Legault defends response to Debby downpour

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By Staff The Canadian Press

Posted August 15, 2024 11:42 am

1 min read

 'Pincourt flood victims floored by scope of Debby damage'

2:15 Pincourt flood victims floored by scope of Debby damage

RELATED: In Pincourt, off the western tip of the Island of Montreal, more than 250 buildings and homes flooded when Debby struck. The suburb received even more rain than Montreal did. As Global’s Dan Spector tells us, many residents are just beginning to realize the magnitude of the cleanup ahead.

Quebec Premier François Legault is defending himself for not having visited flood-stricken communities until almost one week after torrential rain flooded basements and washed out roads across the province.

The premier spoke to reporters for the first time Thursday morning since last Friday’s rainfall during a visit to Louiseville, Que., a hard-hit municipality northeast of Montreal.

Legault says his priorities were restoring power to the 550,000 customers who were left in darkness after the downpour and fixing damaged roads that left hundreds of houses isolated.

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The premier also hinted he may expand eligibility for government funding for people whose homes were damaged by flooding.

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Louiseville Mayor Yvon Deshaies has been calling for the army to help the cleanup effort in his community.

But Legault says the army isn’t needed to recover from the storm, which dumped up to 200 millimetres of rain within 24 hours last week.

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