A week after the deadly train derailment in Lac-Megantic, Que., frustration is growing among some evacuees who say theyâre struggling to obtain vital information about the townâs recovery efforts.
Patrice Laframboise, a local doctor, confronted Mayor Colette Roy-Laroche after a media briefing Friday, saying his family has been left in the dark.
âWe are not able to find out where the information is,â Laframboise said as he grasped the mayorâs shoulder. âWe have no phones, no clothing, nothing.â
Laframboiseâs home is in the red zone, the area hardest hit by the train tanker explosion. He said the house is still standing, but no one can tell him how long heâll have to wait to see it.
âI need this information,â he told reporters. âDo I find another house for a couple of months and reintegrate later? For now itâs difficult to continue my life. Weâre in survival mode.
âWe still have some patience but when you donât have information the impatience starts to come in.â
Many of the 200 residents who still canât enter their homes are just as frustrated. Some of them are sleeping on cots at the emergency shelter, while others are staying with family and friends. It could be weeks â or months â before everyone will be allowed to go home.
âThe town tries, but we are getting all our updates from the television,â Claude Robert said.
One woman interrupted a police news conference Friday, yelling: âStop saying nothing and start doing something! We need to get home.â
Many residents climbed onto rooftops near the downtown core in hopes of catching a glimpse of their homes and businesses, but police immediately threatened to charge them with trespassing.
Others have ripped holes in barriers erected around the red zone in an effort to sneak a peek.
âWe wanted to come see it,â said one woman. âWe needed to.â
The town says itâs doing its best to balance the needs of displaced residents with those of investigators. It also noted that daily updates are posted on the municipalityâs website and at the emergency shelter.
With a report from CTVâs Peter Akman