Stéphane Place, edited by Laura Laplaud, with AFP
modified to
1:58 p.m., June 21, 2022
Holes in the roofs, ruined crops, last night’s stormy episode gave very strong thunderstorms with strong accumulations of rain, large hail (in places more than 7 cm in diameter) and strong gusts of wind, indicates Meteo France. The meteorological institute placed 12 departments on the alert orange heat wave and thunderstorms.
Spectacular hailstorms
A major storm hit the Gironde on Monday evening between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. A first wave affected the Médoc, Lacanau, Carcans. A second stormy wave arrived in the west of the Bordeaux conurbation, with spectacular hailstorms, concentrated in certain municipalities, certain districts of Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, Martignas, Eysines, Le Taillan for example.
Huge hailstones that damaged many roofs, damaged cars, shattered windshields… In the space of a few minutes, the material damage was considerable. The Girondin firefighters, still deployed on the ground this Tuesday morning, chained 700 interventions. It is now necessary to take care of the holed roofs, but also to clear the trees or the cables fallen on the roads without forgetting the premises and the dwellings where the water has infiltrated.
In Taillan-Médoc, many fear new showers. Nathalie is still in shock after the storm which has not spared her house: “It’s not a ruin, but there are waterways everywhere, it has holes in everything… We really have to ‘They come and put tarpaulins on us,’ she asks. “It was a cataclysm, we saw the hailstones grow, almost the size of a tennis ball.”
The town hall has opened an emergency reception to help the inhabitants, who cannot stay at home, to relocate, sometimes also accompanying them in their administrative procedures.
“A Cataclysm”
In Taillan-Médoc, faced with the extent of the damage, we read the amazement in the eyes of many inhabitants or traders like Kader who is at the head of a garage in this Gironde town. This entrepreneur struggles to find the words when he arrives at the large parking lot where the cars are stored. “It looks like they were slaughtered with bats. It’s impressive. We must have a hundred vehicles and we don’t have one that is intact, they are all ruined,” he laments. . Scrappable Vehicles supports Kader.
The authorities speak of four injuries and 15,000 power cuts. The Gironde fears significant consequences in the vineyards, in the Médoc vines and perhaps also in the north of Libourne where the hail fell. Inspection of the plots will give a first idea of the impact of this storm on winegrowers.