The Loir-et-Cher department is one of the 65 departments placed on orange “storm” vigilance by Météo France from Saturday 4:00 p.m. until Sunday morning.
The 30,000 unit scouts of France gathered on the National Estate of Chambord (Loir-et-Cher) on the occasion of the Pentecost weekend were sheltered from violent storms, including a third inside the castle itself, organizers said.
“The storm passed around 4.30 p.m. It lasted a few minutes but it was relatively strong and a gust of wind knocked down the Cubs’ tents, which we are in the process of reassembling,” Damien Tardy told AFP. , in charge of the movement’s press relations. “Ten thousand young people, aged 8 to 12, were sheltered in the castle in cooperation with the prefecture,” he added.
“The oldest, who are up to 25 years old, have been taken to the shelter of the forest, on a sloping plain. They are in tents under ponchos, and were singing when I went to see them, like the do the scouts even in the event of difficulties”, specified Mr. Tardy, adding that it was about a “difficult moment” but “pretty well managed”.
Questioned by AFP, the director of the National Domain of Chambord Jean d’Haussonville specified that the shelter had “passed in calm and good humor thanks to the fallback plan planned by the prefecture”.
“The castle was closed to the public from 3:30 p.m. in anticipation of the storm. The idea was to welcome the youngest people in the castle as a priority, i.e. around 10,000 people. The older ones stayed in the sheltered buses. lightning and hail. We are expecting a second storm around 7:30 p.m. “, he explained, adding that there had been damage, such as “torn up tents, falling trees and infiltration of ‘water in the castle’.
Created in 1971, the unitary scouts of France, one of the main movements of scouting, celebrate their 50th anniversary this year, an anniversary shifted by one year due to the covid-19 epidemic. The participants came from all over France.
All activities, games and workshops scheduled for the afternoon have been cancelled.