Victims of last spring’s historic flood had another opportunity to address the Montreal Agglomeration’s Public Security Commission with their concerns, Tuesday evening.
The commission convened a public meeting in Pierrefonds to present its recommendations for how the city can be better prepared for future floods.
Among the recommendations was the need for better pre-emergency organization, stronger communication channels (among first responders and with the citizenry), and urgent updates to the flood zone maps along the Rivière-des-Prairies.
However, after two hours of intense questioning from the public, many residents were not convinced that the city is ready to handle the fast approaching flood season.
“They’re still not prepared, you can tell,” said Alain Furlano, a resident of Pierrefonds, who still has not been able to repair the damage that the floods did to his house, last year. “They’re still figuring out studies, and we are in March, almost April; flooding season is coming.”
A number of frustrated residents took to the microphone to publicly remind members of the commission that the wounds caused by last year’s floods have yet to fully recover.
Much of the delay has been caused by what they call excessive red tape.
“They admit to making mistakes, but we are paying the price because they won’t fix it,” Tauseef Bhatti said in an interview after the meeting had ended. “If you make a mistake and you admit to that, then change your rules and let us rebuild our lives.”
Bhatti and his family of six continue to live in a hotel while they wait for their building permits to come through. He says every member of his family has suffered from both physical and mental illness because of the displacement.
During the meeting, Bhatti gave an emotional plea to the commission:
“What is a reasonable time period, which is acceptable to the government, that you say, ok, this is fine, Mr. Bhatti should suffer for two years, three years, five years, until we get our act together and find some answers,” he said.
Others complained that their claims have yet to be processed, and that it’s still not clear who they can turn to for help.