Two days after the passage of the storm Fiona in Guadeloupe, the consequences are important. Several dozen people had to be relocated, roads remained impassable and part of the archipelago still had no drinking water, we learned from concordant sources. “About fifty” people must be relocated, a source close to the authorities told AFP, on condition of anonymity.
For its part, the prefecture clarified Monday evening that the “gradual return” of water distribution was continuing, thanks in particular to the provision of two cisterns from the national reserve in Basse-Terre and eleven additional cisterns in progress. route by the adapted military service regiment (RSMA).
151,000 people affected by water shortages
The Joint Water and Sanitation Management Union of Guadeloupe (SMGEAG) estimated on Sunday that nearly 151,000 subscribers were affected by water shortages due to the passage of storm Fiona on Friday night in Saturday. He then underlined that, in several areas of the archipelago, “major works” would be necessary or that the infrastructures were not yet accessible.
“A distribution of bottles of mineral water will be provided by the Red Cross,” said the prefecture on Monday, adding that “about a hundred subscribers” were still without electricity and that 340 users did not have access to electricity. fixed line due to damaged antennas. “Eleven mobile antennas are still out of service,” she noted.
A badly affected road network
The road network also suffered: three departmental roads remained impassable on Monday in Basse-Terre and the Rivière des Pères bridge, linking Basse-Terre to Baillif, was closed to traffic on Monday due to “significant structural damage”. Most schools, closed on Monday, are to reopen on Tuesday, but several mayors have warned that without running water, the reception of students would be impossible in certain establishments.
The departmental emergency fund has been activated to “meet basic necessities (mattresses, clothing, foodstuffs)”, said Guy Losbar, president of the Departmental Council, on Monday in a press release. An accelerated procedure for recognition of the state of natural disaster is underway. The Minister in charge of Overseas Jean-François Carenco must go there in the coming days.