Those who do not benefit from the natural disaster regime will not be forgotten. In any case, this is the promise of the government, which is “working” on the establishment of an “exceptional emergency fund” for the affected inhabitants of Brittany after the passage of storms Ciaran and Domingos, announced this Thursday the Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu.
A total of 181 municipalities in Pas-de-Calais and 24 in the North have already been recognized as being in a state of natural disaster on Wednesday after the floods of recent days. “We talk a lot about Pas-de-Calais but I have not forgotten that there was a storm in Brittany a few days earlier, with residents who are not entitled to the natural disaster rules,” underlined the minister. on France 2.
“Review the natural disaster grid”
He in fact recalled that in terms of insurance, “a cyclone is a natural disaster; a flood is a natural disaster; a storm is not a natural disaster”, evoking grids unsuitable for climate change. “We are working on all climatic events to review the grid of natural disasters, the way in which we deal with them, our rules are not adapted to climate change,” declared Christophe Béchu.
The minister announced that “at the request of the President of the Republic, we are currently working on the establishment of an emergency and solidarity fund which will make it possible to provide exceptional support to those in Brittany were affected by storms Ciaran and Domingos. “We are in the process of sizing (the envelope, Editor’s note) with the regional prefect, there is no question of abandoning” the affected people, and “in the coming hours we will have the opportunity to specify this system », continued Christophe Béchu.
“Compassion and urgency”
Concerning insurers, he considered that “we cannot be in a situation, when we have such a level of distress, which consists of applying the small italicized lines which are written at the bottom of the contracts, we need to a form of compassion and urgency for support.”
On Wednesday, the government announced that for farmers who suffered floods in Hauts-de-France but also in Brittany and Normandy, another fund, of 80 million euros, would be activated.