This Friday, the rivers which caused significant flooding in Pas-de-Calais began to recede. Red vigilance has been lifted for the Aa river, now orange, like the Lys and the Canche. For the other watercourses concerned, Vigicrues has lowered the vigilance level to yellow. However, if river levels stagnate or even drop, overflows are still occurring and many municipalities still have their feet in the water. For nine of them, schools will not be able to reopen at the start of the school year on Monday.
At the height of the event, 191 municipalities were impacted by the rising waters, but the most affected were all located in the district of Saint-Omer. The three schools in Arques are unusable, one Monday and Tuesday, another all week, the last until further notice.
System D or solidarity
In Aire-sur-la-Lys, the school will remain closed all week. In Saint-Omer, a Lypso high school site will not be able to reopen. In Blendecques, the three schools will remain closed all week. In Thérouane, no face-to-face return for middle school students until Wednesday. The scenario is the same for schools in four municipalities in the districts of Montreuil, Boulogne and Béthune.
However, this does not mean that the students have gained a few days of vacation. In most cases, the National Education services will set up distance learning. Some municipalities have been able to organize themselves to relocate the reception of students, such as in Arques, where children from the center’s school will follow the class from the social center. Or in Cormont, whose students will find refuge in the school of a neighboring town.