From Corsica to the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, via the Creuse, it snowed almost everywhere in France on Sunday. These heavy snowfalls also had consequences on motorway traffic in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Nearly 200 people had to be accommodated overnight from Sunday to Monday in Haut-Forez, after the closure of the A89 near Thiers (Puy-de-Dôme) due to snow.
The firefighters of the Loire indicate this Monday morning that about 150 people were welcomed in the village hall of the commune of Salles, and about fifteen others in that of Noirétable, in the north-west of the Loire. The A89 had been closed to traffic on Sunday, shortly after 6 p.m., in both directions near Thiers (Puy-de-Dôme) due to snow, specify Vinci Autoroutes and the prefecture.
The A89 motorway was able to reopen this Monday at 6 a.m.
The teams then intervened to clear the vehicles across, “mostly not equipped with snow tires”, including a heavy vehicle, explains Vinci Autoroutes. During the time of this intervention, “one to two hours according to Vinci”, blockages occurred, concerning 600 vehicles in the evening, according to the prefecture, which however specifies “that no passenger has spent the night at the airport. stop ”on this axis.
The cleared tracks could then be cleared of snow overnight, until the reopening Monday morning at 6 a.m. The department of Puy-de-Dôme had been placed on snow-ice orange vigilance on Saturday, like other departments of the Massif Central. The other people rescued by firefighters, gendarmes and members of the Red Cross were stranded on secondary axes of Haut-Forez.