Floods: 244 municipalities classified as natural disasters in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais

President Emmanuel Macron visited Pas-de-Calais this Tuesday, battered by several days of rain, floods and devastating floods, and whose inhabitants are preparing for a new rise in water levels after a few days of lull. The Head of State announced that “all the municipalities which requested it”, i.e. 214 in Pas-de-Calais and “around thirty in the North”, would be classified as a natural disaster after the floods which devastated these departments.

Emmanuel Macron also announced the release of a “support fund” of 50 million euros for affected communities. Another “exceptional support fund” for farmers, including those in Brittany and Normandy affected by the storms, will also be launched.

Emmanuel Macron close to the victims

“We’re going to have more rain, but keep your spirits up”, these are the words of the Head of State upon his arrival in Saint-Omer, in front of around sixty elected officials and rescuers. Emmanuel Macron then visited underwater farms. “We have never seen that before. But nothing tells us that we will not see it again in the decades that come with the disruption,” warns the president. “Thank you for coming honestly. We were waiting for you,” says a resident present on site. A sentence to which Emmanuel Macron responds: “with all my heart with you”. And subsequently, an exceptional support fund was announced for farmers.

Then direction Blendecques, where the pumps to evacuate the water run continuously. The presidential couple provided support to the victims, like Rudy. “They stayed for more than 45 minutes. They were really attentive and super warm. It did good to my mother-in-law who was present. They were comforting, they clearly had the right words,” rejoices the sinister. And before leaving Pas-de-Calais, the Head of State confirmed to residents, people will find their homes and yes, they will still be able to live here.

The seven rivers of the department on orange flood alert

Emmanuel Macron is accompanied by the Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, the Minister of Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, and the Minister for SMEs, Olivia Grégoire. Pas-de-Calais, which has already suffered storm Ciaran on November 2, record floods on November 7 and intense precipitation on Thursday and Friday, remains on Tuesday on yellow alert for wind, rain-flooding and waves-submersion.

The seven rivers of the department monitored by Vigicrues are on orange flood alert, the Liane, the Lys upstream and the Lawe-Clarence having joined the Canche, the Lys plaine, the Hem and the Aa in the 10 p.m. bulletin. With the exception of the Canche, all these rivers started to rise again Monday evening, according to Vigicrues.

Accumulations of up to 40 mm expected

Météo-France predicts showers that could “lead to accumulations of 20 to 30 mm, locally up to 40 mm, over large areas” of Pas-de-Calais. This precipitation is part of an “already very sensitive hydrological context”, warns the meteorological institute. Faced with this situation, by decision of the prefecture, educational establishments in 279 municipalities in the department, or 388 establishments in total, will remain closed on Tuesday, after having been closed on Monday.

More than 10,000 victims identified

Météo-France forecasts for the week an alternation of days without rain followed by precipitation: showers on Wednesday, calm until Friday then a resumption of bad weather until Monday. The floods of recent days have also caused significant damage in the neighboring department of the North, particularly on the Lys plain. “How are they going to eliminate all this?”, asked Annie Bacrot on Monday afternoon, who lives along this river in Merville (North), and whose garden is entirely underwater. “It’s stressful, we’re afraid of having to leave, we’ve never experienced that,” she sighed.

“The water has been rising since Friday, it’s not going down, we’re waiting, we can’t do anything,” lamented her husband, Alain Bacrot, 73, who wore big boots to leave his house. According to senator and vice-president of the regional council Franck Dhersin, more than 10,000 victims have already been identified. “Many artisans, traders and SMEs/SMIs are affected,” he underlined on Monday.

A natural disaster recognition commission must be held on Tuesday

According to the prefecture, 1,391 evacuations have been carried out in the department since November 6, including 14 again on Monday, and 7,200 people experienced restrictions on the use of water on Monday evening. A natural disaster recognition commission for the affected municipalities of Nord and Pas-de-Calais is to be held on Tuesday. In the latter department, 207 municipalities have submitted a file, according to the prefecture. The presidents of the department and the region, Jean-Claude Leroy and Xavier Bertrand, called on Monday, in a letter to Emmanuel Macron, for “national solidarity” to come to the aid of the victims.

The death toll since the start of the episode remains at four minor injuries. A sixty-year-old woman also died in Bailleul (North) at the wheel of her car found on Saturday in a flooded ditch, without the Dunkirk public prosecutor’s office being able to establish with certainty a link with bad weather.

More than 90 roads remain cut

Rail traffic is interrupted on two sections (Boulogne-Etaples and Saint-Pol-Etaples) “until further notice”, indicated the SNCF on the X network (formerly Twitter). More than 90 roads remain cut. Although they constitute natural phenomena, floods, cyclones and droughts can be amplified by global warming generated by human activities.