Village vacancies fall victim to Valcartier power cuts

Village vacancies Valcartier closed for one day on Friday due to power outage. The break-in was caused by a delivery truck tripping over a pole during the ill-fated operation.

• Read more: Village vacancies go to Valcartier American hands

The blackout, which lasted only a few hours, occurred around 10 am when the water slide opened. The hotel, Bora Park, and the outdoor water park were affected by the power outage, so it was decided to evacuate the site.

By noon, Hydro-Québec crews were able to restore power. Operations have partially resumed with the opening of Bora Park only.

“Evacuating the site is very rare. It’s exceptional. (…) When there are rain and storm warnings, we can do evacuations. Our employees in the aquatics department know the procedures and it works well. There, it’s even less, because There aren’t many others on site,” explained Sandra Nadeau, spokeswoman for VVV.

It should be noted that the incident, which took place on a hot and sunny Friday, is causing a loss of revenue for the company. According to Ms. Nadow, VVV was ready to receive a few thousand visitors.

“We wanted to do without it. We didn’t reach that point in our analysis, but it’s definitely a big loss. We had to send our employees home and it wasn’t fun for them,” he added.

Partial recovery

Fortunately, power was restored earlier than expected by dinner time. VVV announced that Bora Park was able to welcome visitors from early afternoon. However, the outdoor water park was closed for the day.

The visitors, mostly families with children, had to turn back, disappointed to have lost such a beautiful day. They can get a refund or get a ticket for another day.

“We come from Rimouski. We rented a room. We will come back tomorrow (Saturday). We are looking for solutions. We don’t have much choice,” said William Gagnon of Rimouski, who was with his small children.

“We were going to enjoy the day anyway. We were sitting ready to swim. I thought we could have enjoyed the pool even if there were no waves. It was a bit difficult to get everyone out. We would have played volleyball. I think it was a safety issue. We will be back. Maybe not tomorrow, but we will be back this summer. Come on,” said Francis Joly de Beauport, a customer we met outside.