Aerial view of the village of Neuville-sous-Montreuil, in Pas-de-Calais, November 17, 2023 (AFP/Charles Caby)
The return of rain swells the waterways again on Monday in Pas-de-Calais, affected by repeated flooding for two weeks, where Minister Bruno Le Maire announced support for rehousing for six months.
Pas-de-Calais has returned to orange for floods, with Vigicrues indicating that “the precipitation on Monday caused the level of rivers to rise again”, with the risk of new “damaging overflows”.
The department recorded “cumulative amounts of around 15 to 30 mm over 24 hours”, indicates the Pas-de-Calais prefecture, and further precipitation is expected on Tuesday, “of lesser magnitude than today”.
“My parents’ house has been underwater for 10 days, all the sheds, all the greenhouses are underwater,” complains Sylvain Dewalle, a farmer in Saint-Omer. He saved his animals but lost several hectares of vegetables, drowned: “mash, leeks…”
The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, who called on insurers not to “nitpick,” announced that the costs of rehousing “several thousand” of affected victims would be “the responsibility of the State and insurers ” for six months, starting at the end of November. This support will apply “retroactively in order to cover the flooding of recent days”, specifies Bercy.
Bruno Le Maire also promised that all insurance assessments would be carried out by December 4, for individuals and businesses.
In order to streamline procedures, insurers have set up “the possibility of assessing damage remotely” via “video-expertise” and “a digitalized information collection process”, underlines France Assureurs in a press release.
The department voted on Monday for aid, joint with the Region, of 380 euros per household aimed at covering the insurance excess for residents of municipalities classified as natural disasters.
Aerial view of the village of Neuville-sous-Montreuil, in Pas-de-Calais, November 17, 2023 (AFP/Charles Caby)
The floods, which have left five people injured since November 6, have affected 6,000 homes, 160 businesses, 130 businesses and 53 farms according to the prefecture.
Nearly 900 firefighters and rescuers were still mobilized on Monday, mainly in Pas-de-Calais, indicates the prefecture of the northern zone.
– “Always 30 cm of water” –
After two weeks of record rainfall leading to a series of historic floods, the lull over the weekend triggered a decline and allowed the Red Cross to close its emergency accommodation centers.
If Monday’s rainy episode is “not at all exceptional”, according to Météo France, the soils still saturated with water make the watercourses very sensitive.
“Damaging overflows” – but of lesser importance than those of the last two weeks – are envisaged from the end of Monday evening, in particular on the Hem and the Aa then on the Canche, three of the six rivers on alert orange, Vigicrues told AFP.
“We still have 30 cm of water everywhere, it has gone down but it remains, and the last 30 centimeters, I think it will take a long time to lose them”, testified Monday morning Ulysse Toulet, baker in Montreuil-sur- Mer, whose shop, bakery and accommodation were invaded by 1.20 m of water at the height of the floods. “There’s another week of rain coming,” he sighs, while waiting for his insurance adjuster.
To facilitate the evacuation of water towards the sea, two Dutch pumps with a capacity of 5,000 m3/h are being installed near Dunkirk (North), indicated the Hauts-de-France prefecture. Currently, the 42 high-volume pumps deployed make it possible to pump 65,360 m3/h in Pas-de-Calais and the Nord.
A total of 181 municipalities in Pas-de-Calais and 24 in the North have already been recognized as being in a state of natural disaster. A new natural disaster recognition meeting is planned for this week.
5,200 people are still subject to restrictions on water use, and 45 homes are still without electricity.
Although they constitute natural phenomena, floods, cyclones and droughts can be amplified by global warming generated by human activities.
© 2023 AFP
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