The thunderstorms that hit France on Saturday left one dead and fifteen injured, two of them seriously.
The intense stormy episode which crossed 65 departments in France on Saturday and still deprived 15,000 people of electricity on Sunday left one dead and “15 injured, including two seriously”, announced Gérald Darmanin. The deceased is a woman “carried away by a mudslide” in Rouen and drowned after being trapped under a car. Among the two seriously injured is a 13-year-old girl who is “in critical condition”, detailed the Minister of the Interior, during a press briefing on Place Beauvau.
In total, the 2,400 firefighters engaged carried out 3,500 interventions and 50,000 lightning strikes were recorded, detailed the minister, stressing that it was “the first time in twenty years” that such a large part of the territory was crossed simultaneously by thunderstorms.
Among the damage caused, Gérald Darmanin mentioned “works of art”, in particular bridges “swept away” in Mayenne, and also wine cultures, in particular in the Landes and Gers. The minister also announced that he would propose “at the end of the week” to Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne to declare “a state of natural disaster” in order to “allow people to trigger their insurance”. Météo-France lifted the orange vigilance “Storms” on Sunday morning for the 25 departments that remained concerned, mainly located in the north-eastern quarter of France.