After Emmanuel Macron, it is the turn of Élisabeth Borne to come to the bedside of the victims of Pas-de-Calais. After more than ten days of exceptional bad weather, the Prime Minister is going to the Montreuil-sur-Mer sector this Thursday morning, as a new depression threatens.
The head of government, expected at 8:30 a.m., must meet security and emergency forces as well as residents of Montreuil-sur-Mer, a town crossed by the Canche, a river still on orange alert for flood risks. Part of the Montreuil citadel, dating from the 16th century, collapsed on Friday. Élisabeth Borne must then discuss with the mayors of the region.
People are “exhausted, psychologically, physically”
“The aftermath is going to be very complicated. People are tired, are exhausted, psychologically, physically, morally,” explains Gwenaëlle Loire, mayor of Saint-Léonard, about fifty kilometers away. “We are recognized as a natural disaster, but now the State will have to give us the means because I think that houses will be declared unsanitary by the experts, so people will no longer be able to live in their houses.”
After a slight lull, the rains could resume this Thursday, indicates Météo-France: a new depression, called Frederico, will in fact “circulate in the north of the country, on a Brittany/Alsace axis”. This return of rains on saturated soils since the passage of storm Ciaran on November 2, “could cause further increases” on the three waterways of Pas-de-Calais classified as orange vigilance, warns Vigicrues, referring to the ” risk of another significant flood on Thursday.” In addition to the Canche, two rivers in the department are still on orange alert: the Hem and the Lys Plaine.
Reopening of educational establishments
After middle and high schools in the affected areas which gradually reopened on Wednesday, most of the 1,290 schools closed since Monday will reopen this Thursday, the prefecture said. However, 21 schools will not be able to accommodate students and school transport remains very disrupted.
The drinking water supply is still subject to restrictions for 7,200 people in the Samer sector, a situation which is expected to last until the middle of the week, specifies the same source, adding that more than 500 homes are without electricity, and more of 4,000 subscribers deprived of mobile phones.
The recognition in a state of natural disaster of 181 municipalities in Pas-de-Calais and 24 in the North was published on Wednesday in the Official Journal. Traveling in the department on Tuesday, Emmanuel Macron also announced the release of a “support fund” of 50 million euros for affected communities. For farmers who suffered from floods in Hauts-de-France but also in Brittany and Normandy, another fund, of 80 million, must be activated.