2023-11-19 14:02:36
An aerial view of the town of Hames-Boucres, in Pas-de-Calais, on November 15. CHARLES CABY / AFP
“Initiated on all watercourses”the clear decline observed for three days in Pas-de-Calais could be thwarted on Sunday, November 19, by further precipitation, which should intensify during the day.
“We still have water in several areas” around Montreuil-sur-Mer and Saint-Omer, “but the decline is beginning on all the watercourses”the Pas-de-Calais prefecture reported to Agence France-Presse (AFP). “The situation is clearly improving”, she added. A sign of this improvement, only one evacuation has been carried out in the last forty-eight hours, out of nearly 1,500 carried out since November 6.
But, warn Vigicrues in its latest bulletinfurther rain expected on Sunday “will intensify as the day goes on” et “should cause the level of watercourses to rise again”. Pas-de-Calais is placed on yellow alert for rain-flood, floods and winds for the day on Sunday, and again for rain-flood and floods on Monday, according to the latest Météo-France bulletin.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers In Pas-de-Calais, after the floods, lives in pieces: “Who will buy here now? »
Vigicrues fears in particular a reaction on the Canche, in the south-west of the department, where “the levels are still high and the decline is thwarted”. On water-saturated soils, any further precipitation can have negative effects. Until then, in Maresville, a town near the Canche which suffered a « tsunami » last week, in the words of its mayor, Maxime Delianne, “the water is dropping, it dropped again last night”he rejoices.
205 municipalities in a state of natural disaster
The Dordonne, a river which crosses the village, finally found its bed on Sunday morning, he assures, while certain buildings had been invaded by nearly 1.50 meters of water at the height of the flood. “Now the priority is cleaning”he adds, ensuring that, “In some houses, there is nothing left”the water having carried away or destroyed everything.
The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, will be in Arques and Saint-Omer on Monday, on the Aa, where he will meet “local stakeholders and representatives of the insurance sector, in order to accelerate care and support for disaster victims”, announced Bercy on Sunday. He will succeed the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, who promised on Saturday, during a trip to Audruicq, near Calais, “a specific envelope” for the affected communities.
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. A new natural disaster recognition meeting is planned for next week.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers In Pas-de-Calais, the operation of flood-proof schools
#PasdeCalais #precipitation #threatens #decline