Bad weather hit Cher hard on Monday. A “fairly violent” stormy episode broke out around 5 p.m. in the department, where four municipalities were particularly affected but no casualties were reported.
About 2,200 homes are without electricity in 12 municipalities in the department, the prefecture said in a statement in the evening. The most affected town is that of Preuilly, which has nearly 500 inhabitants, located between Bourges and Vierzon, said Franck Moinardeau, director of the prefect’s cabinet. “The town hall, the church, the school and the village hall were badly shaken by the bad weather as well as many homes. 80% of the building suffered damage following the stormy episode”, according to the prefecture which announces: “the departmental association of Civil Security is mobilized to deliver 1,000 liters of water to the population of the municipality of Preuilly”.
Collapse of a 1,700 m2 roof
Not far from there, in Mehun-sur-Yèvre, damage was also observed on several buildings. The roof of a large area “of 1,700 m2 collapsed”, said the same source. According to the press release, the store “will open to the public again tomorrow”, that is to say this Tuesday morning.
Two other municipalities were also affected in the same sector, Sainte-Thorette and Marmagne. In the latter, “major damage (are) located in the sector of the hamlet of Beauvoir”, while in Sainte-Thorette, there is “material damage to buildings and crops”. In these municipalities, “tarpaulin operations are underway by the SDIS (Departmental Fire and Rescue Service) and will continue until tomorrow evening” (Tuesday), said the prefecture.
Blocked roads
Several roads are blocked following falling trees and the Vierzon-Bourges railway line is interrupted. On this track, “at Vallenay, 43 people are stuck in the train”. “110 personnel” from the SDIS, “25 machines, 2 drones and 2 reinforcement groups are expected in the evening with 7 to 8 additional vehicles”. In total for the moment, “130 interventions” have been carried out. About twenty gendarmes are also mobilized. In addition, “particular vigilance is to be expected for outdoor structures, such as tents and marquees”.
Monday evening, 19 departments ranging from Poitou-Charentes to Centre-Val-de-Loire, Burgundy, Champagne and Lorraine were on orange alert until midnight for thunderstorms that could sometimes be violent, locally accompanied by hail and strong gusts of wind up to 80/90 km / h, even very locally 100 km / h, warned Météo-France.