The house washed away by a major landslide in La Baie in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean was the residence of a family of five children, which the owners had completely renovated in recent years.
• Read also: A house washed away and 21 others evacuated in Saguenay
• Read also: Major landslide in Saguenay
Met by TVA Nouvelles on the spot Tuesday morning, the father of the owner of the property was struggling to contain his emotions thinking of his son who lost everything.
“It bothers us a lot, we put a lot of time into it. It’s been four years since my son bought it and we had completely renovated it, we had completely redone the interior. Redecorating a garage…”, explains Carle Brisson.
Carl Brisson, father of the owner of the swept away house
Beyond the material, he thinks of the little ones who might have been on the spot during the incident. Fortunately the City had several houses evacuated two months ago due to the appearance of a major fault in the embankment.
“My son has five children. If the five children had been there, it was done. No one would have gotten out of there. It was over,” recalls Mr. Brisson.
It is the voice twisted by the emotion that he notes that his son has lost everything.
“He didn’t react very well. It’s not easy.”
Neighbors who witnessed the scene say they are still troubled by the force of the subsidence that surprised everyone early Monday evening.
This is the case of Donald De La Durantaye who was taking out the waste when the embankment collapsed.
Donald De La Durantaye, neighbor
“I was on the gallery and I heard a din… I saw sparks of fire! I saw you go down there, I got goosebumps. It went down, it made a hell of a noise, it was crazy!” he explains.
An immediate neighbor particularly remembers the sound which was very loud.
David Laflamme, neighbor
“I came out just when I heard the noise, my wife was worried because it was making noise. When we came out, there was a packet of smoke,” says Daniel Laflamme.
Another neighbor saw her childhood home destroyed in the collapse.
Sylvie Gagné, neighbour. His father built the house taken away
“I find it very difficult. I was raised there, my father built it. He is still alive. He’s 91 and he saw the videos last night. It’s been since last night that I’ve been very troubled by this. I shake all the time. It’s sad,” says Sylvie Gagné.
An expertise of the ground movement service of the Minister of Transport is planned during the day on Tuesday.
According to the authorities, the heavy rains were one of the causes of the event. Teams are currently on the ground to assess the situation and the danger it poses to the inhabitants of the district.
A security perimeter has been erected in the area. The landslide caused no injuries.
In total, 21 residences were evacuated and their inhabitants taken care of by family, acquaintances or the Red Cross.
Listen to Benoît Dutrizac’s interview with Julie Dufour on QUB Radio: