In September, half of the population lost electricity and drinking water during Christmas

Strong winds hit the Côte-Nord region on Friday and Saturday, causing damage to infrastructure, including water problems. Half of the 18,000 residents of Sept-Eails are without electricity and drinking water at Christmas.

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Sept-Îles Mayor Steve Beaupre urged seniors to come to the community-recreation center to warm up because “the temperature inside could drop to 3 or 4 degrees.”

Roofs were blown off, torn off, fences blown down, buildings collapsed, lampposts felled, was the assessment made by the city mayor. Only one out of three buildings in the city was spared, he marveled.

“At present it is easier to count the number of houses that are not affected than those affected by the strong winds, which can sometimes reach 140 km/h.”

For his part, he said “This is unheard of! We usually have snowstorms on the North Shore, which is not unusual, but winds of this force are like a typhoon or hurricane.

The priority is “people’s safety, above all”, Mr. Beaupre promised.

The mayor invites people to go to Sept-Îles’ social-recreation center located on rue Joliette, where temporary beds have been set up, seek shelter and fill their containers with drinking water available on site.

Mr. According to information received by Beaupre, the current will gradually recover this week and the situation will improve by December 27 or 28.

On Sunday afternoon, the general manager of the city of Sept-Îles met with all the actors involved in the storm operation to develop an emergency plan should the crisis situation continue beyond September 28.

The sewer problem that occurred on Saturday has not yet been resolved, but the mayor points out that once the power is restored, the problem can be resolved.