The worst should soon be over. The peak of the Charente river, which remains placed on orange alert, is expected on Sunday afternoon, before a slow ebb of the water in the coming days until Christmas, according to the latest forecasts. In Saintes, a city regularly flooded when the water rises, “1,000 houses” were affected and around “150 people” evacuated in around “thirty affected streets”, indicated mayor Bruno Drapon.
This is less than during the last episode in February 2021 (600 evacuations), the population having anticipated the situation more. Resigned residents left their homes on their own after raising their furniture on the ground floor and cutting off the electricity as a precaution.
Below the historic flood of 1982
The peak of the flood, which reached 6.07 meters on Sunday morning, is expected at the start of the afternoon with an additional centimeter, according to the latest forecasts communicated by the authorities during a press briefing at midday.
The water level should therefore not exceed the 6.18 m measured in 2021, nor the historic flood of December 23, 1982, when the Charente rose to 6.84 m in Saintes. The weather forecasts for the coming week are favorable for the recession but this promises to be slow, centimeter by centimeter, the slope of the Charente being very slight in this sector.
“Due to the very flat level of the river, we will maintain the security system until the Christmas weekend,” continued Bruno Drapon. In the flooded streets, the sidewalks were raised with concrete blocks and wooden planks to allow local residents to circulate. Boats and kayaks made it possible to move the youngest and the oldest.
” We are fed up “
More than a hundred firefighters were mobilized to help them, with no casualties reported. A Christmas market was moved during the week and on Thursday, the 142 inmates of the Saintes remand center had to be evacuated to other penitentiary establishments, as in 2021. Upstream in Cognac, the situation is “stabilized” , with 200 homes affected and zero evacuations. “We’re fed up,” sighs Mayor Morgan Berger, who impatiently awaits “the first signs of decline.”
The Charente reached 7.59 m at its highest in Cognac, as in February 2021, higher than the 7.16 meters of 2007 but less than the 8.45 meters of 1982, according to historical data from Vigicrues.