A landslide has caused extensive damage to the embankment of a rural highway in Lanaudiere.
Part of the embankment for Highway 341 near L'Epiphanie was swept away Thursday afternoon, and Quebec Civil Security thinks construction work is to blame.
Three heavy vehicles were swept away when a piece of earth dozens of metres long slid down a slope.
The land gave way in the middle of the afternoon in an area dotted with homes, one of which belongs to Sophie Morreau.
"We were in the car when we saw neighbours running," she said. "Then panic set in."
Construction crews had already started working on the embankment because of a fear of a landslide.
The earth in the area is extremely sandy, and coupled with the fact that a river runs along the highway means the land is very unstable. It's therefore no surprise that this isn't the first time a landslide has hit this exact spot.
One was in 2008 while the land was being leveled, destroying two houses, and another one nearby came close to bringing two more houses down in 2010.
"In 2008 two families were forced to move," says area resident Claude Bellerose. "I think there need to be more permanent evacuations."
Civil security says the work might have somehow triggered this particular slide. Experts spent Friday analysing the rest of the terrain and determining what needs to be done to prevent another slide.
But Morreau's confidence in their work is shaken.
"This is serious," she said. "I have a 14 year old son. I don't feel safe in my own home."
