Finally a lull? Pas-de-Calais wakes up worried this Friday after a night of heavy rain, which follows a historic rise in water levels already causing significant damage on Tuesday. The department has been placed since Thursday by Météo-France on red alert for both floods and rain and floods, an episode which should only begin to fade at the end of the afternoon.
Seine-Maritime and Somme, two departments locally very affected by bad weather overnight, as well as the North, are placed on orange vigilance.
“There will be a lull after 4 p.m.,” the prefecture of the Northern defense and security zone said this morning. According to Météo-France, precipitation levels over the entire episode are close to the usual amount over a month. According to the prefecture, no less than 130 municipalities have been affected in recent days by flooding in the department, already affected by storm Ciaran on November 2, then the record floods of the Liane, the Aa and the Canche on Tuesday.
The state of natural disaster should be triggered on November 14
The prefecture counted around a hundred firefighter interventions and “133 evacuations of people” in the department on Thursday evening. The death toll remains at three minor injuries since Monday. “Two large capacity pumps capable of absorbing 5,400 m3 per hour” have been deployed and “a third pump” of this type as well as floating pumps must be quickly put in place, indicated the prefecture.
The Red Cross has opened twelve accommodation centers, the largest of which, based in Saint-Étienne-au-Mont, has 40 beds. Schools in 200 municipalities will remain closed on Friday as the day before and train traffic remains interrupted on two sections (Boulogne-Etaples and Saint-Pol-Etaples) at least until Saturday “in order to guarantee the safety of travelers and staff” , indicated the SNCF on X.
The state of natural disaster must be triggered on November 14 for the affected towns in Pas-de-Calais and the Nord. More than 50 municipalities have submitted a file, according to the prefecture.