Gabriel Attal and the prefect of Pas-de-Calais Jacques Billant, March 11, 2024, in La Calotterie where decongestion pumps were installed after the recent floods (POOL/AFP/Francois LO PRESTI)
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, visiting Monday for the third time to victims of Pas-de-Calais, affected by several episodes of flooding since November, promised “urgent” work and the halving of the deadline for payment of insurers.
He announced an additional envelope of 10 million euros for the reconstruction of public facilities, bringing the envelope to 70 million euros, and the appointment of a delegated prefect responsible for reconstruction to carry out “urgent work in the next six month”.
Simplification measures will be maintained for two additional months, until May 31, in particular to “facilitate the cleaning” of waterways, according to the minister’s entourage.
“When we accepted the insurance proposal, there is a period of 21 days to be paid. This period will be divided by two: it will be 10 days maximum,” he declared to victims expressing their exasperation after months of procedures.
“It’s impossible to live like that,” said a resident of La Calotterie, referring to a torrent of 75 centimeters of water which formed on Monday between her house and that of her neighbor.
The Prime Minister, who went there after presiding over a ceremony in Arras paying tribute to the victims of terrorism, promised work “to prepare for next fall”, indicating that he had “broken all procedures” to “win this race against time between now and October.”
Since November, Pas-de-Calais has been affected by several episodes of flooding, after unprecedented rains in the fall, almost three times normal. Some 6,500 homes were affected during three weeks of historic flooding in November, and 2,800 in January, according to the prefecture.
The environmentalist collective Uprising of the Earth indicated, with supporting photos, that it had put up several posters in Montreuil-sur-Mer to denounce “intensive agriculture” responsible in its eyes for the floods.
The Vigiecrues information service classified the Canche river crossing Montreuil-sur-Mer as yellow, where Mr. Attal also went on Monday, and municipalities were on alert due to significant tidal coefficients likely to complicate rain drainage.
“We only have a margin of a few centimeters, our dikes are no longer doing the job 100%. We remain on alert,” said Jérôme Perez, municipal councilor of Neuville-sous-Montreuil, where dikes have been weakened by the record floods of the Canche.
In Attin, in the Montreuil region, the town hall confirmed Monday morning the presence of “a little water in certain streets”. The phenomenon of high tides continues until Wednesday.
“Rehousing is complicated because tourist rentals take back their accommodation before the summer season. People are falling for it,” underlines the mayor of Saint-Etienne-au-Mont Brigitte Passebosc.
Severe bad weather also affected the south-east of France on Sunday. Five people lost their lives, swept away with their vehicles by floods, in Gard or Hérault, while three people are still officially missing, two children aged four and 13 in Gard and a man in Ardèche.
are-cor-lg-cnp/zl/dch
© 2024 AFP
Did you like this article ? Share it with your friends using the buttons below.
