House protected by Saint Anne

 The little white house was built around the year 1890, on Gédéon Street, in the heart of one of the first districts of the city of Chicoutimi, Quebec. Its walls are made of large beams stacked one on top of the other, like a log cabin.

At the time, the little white house was surrounded by many residential and commercial buildings. An imposing dam overlooks its neighborhood, the Bassin. This dam holds back the water of the Chicoutimi River to supply a hydro-electric power station.

One night in July of 1947, strange rumblings awoke Alyre and Jeanne-d’Arc Genest, the inhabitants of the little white house. A torrent of water surrounds their home! In the morning, the couple noticed the damage. In the neighborhood, other houses have also suffered significant damage. It is desolation… After this event, Alyre decided to build a solid foundation in the rock. His little white house will be foolproof!

On July 19, 20 and 21, 1996, the Saguenay received more than 200 millimeters of rain. The level of all the reservoirs climbed visibly. People had to evacuate as quickly as possible. But before leaving, Jeanne-d’Arc Genest put a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the child at the entrance and asked her to protect her house.

Dikes and dams could not hold. Water poured into the streets. The whole region is flooded. The devastation is colossal, and the damage amounts to more than a billion dollars. It is the Flood!

Through the torrents of water, the little white house resists. Everything around it is destroyed: homes, businesses and infrastructure. For three days, until the waters receded, the eyes of the world were riveted on the indestructible little house.