Élisabeth Borne, expected at 8:30 a.m., must meet security and emergency forces as well as residents of Montreuil-sur-Mer, a town crossed by the Canche, a river still on orange alert for flood risks. Part of the Montreuil citadel, dating from the 16th century, collapsed on Friday. The Prime Minister must then discuss with the mayors of the territory.
“The aftermath is going to be very complicated. People are tired, are exhausted, psychologically, physically, morally,” Gwenaëlle Loire, mayor of Saint-Léonard, about fifty kilometers away, explains to AFP. “We are recognized as a natural disaster, but now the State will have to give us the means because I think that houses will be declared unsanitary by the experts, so people will no longer be able to live in their houses” underlines- she, worrying about the rehousing, or even the permanent departure of certain residents.
The rains could resume this Thursday
Although the damage promises to be major, the human toll remains at 4 injured since November 6, according to the prefecture. After a slight lull, the rains could resume on Thursday, indicates Météo-France in its latest bulletin: a new depression, called Frederico, will “circulate in the north of the country, on a Brittany/Alsace axis”.
This return of rains on saturated soils since the passage of storm Ciaran on November 2, “could cause further increases” on the three waterways of Pas-de-Calais classified in orange vigilance, warns Vigicrues, referring to the ” risk of another significant flood on Thursday. In addition to the Canche, two rivers in the department are still on orange alert: the Hem and the Lys Plaine. The North, Charente-Maritime and Vendée are also on orange alert for floods.
Gradual reopening of schools
After middle and high schools in the affected areas which gradually reopened on Wednesday, most of the 1,290 schools closed since Monday will reopen on Thursday, the prefecture said. However, 21 schools will not be able to accommodate students and school transport remains very disrupted.
The drinking water supply is still subject to restrictions for 7,200 people in the Samer sector, a situation which is expected to last until the middle of the week, specifies the same source, adding that more than 500 homes are without electricity, and more of 4,000 subscribers deprived of mobile phones.
In Saint-Léonard, near Boulogne-sur-Mer, residents were hard at work on Wednesday to evacuate the water that entered their ground floor during the night. “We feel helpless, we have no other choice but to wait for it to stop,” confided Didier Marre, 56, scraping the water in his daughter’s house, while laundry full of mud is spread on a wire.
Recognition of the state of natural disaster for 205 municipalities
For the departmental president of the Red Cross, Fabienne Berquier, “the main challenge now consists of finding lasting rehousing solutions for disaster victims who will not be able to return home, in houses where there is “humidity up to ‘at 1m60, no more heating or electricity.’
The recognition in a state of natural disaster of 181 municipalities in Pas-de-Calais and 24 in the North was published on Wednesday in the Official Journal. Traveling in the department on Tuesday, Emmanuel Macron announced the release of a “support fund” of 50 million euros for affected communities.
For farmers who suffered floods in Hauts-de-France but also in Brittany and Normandy, another fund, of 80 million, must be activated.
Around 1,400 people evacuated
Since November 6, around 1,400 people have been evacuated because of these floods, exceptional in their duration and intensity. Although they constitute natural phenomena, floods, cyclones and droughts can be amplified by global warming generated by human activities.