2024-01-04 15:22:38
Faced with floods, no solution is “taboo”. The Minister of Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu and government spokesperson Olivier Véran, arrived Thursday in Thérouanne (Pas-de-Calais), a town crossed by the Aa, where the rain caused significant damage. “I understand the anger and exasperation” of the affected families, said the Minister of Transition, promising “exceptional responses”.
He raised the possibility of not requesting a new file to classify the municipalities already affected as natural disasters “considering that it is the same episode which is continuing”. In total, 169 municipalities are affected by this new episode, compared to 282 in November.
“We have lessons to learn”
Should areas be declared uninhabitable? For Christophe Béchu, “the subject should not be taboo”. “We have lessons to learn” to prevent future floods, he judged. “It is estimated that more than 100 million euros will be spent on the work needed to prevent flooding. They could deploy during the year 2024,” he continued. In addition to the emergency fund of 50 million euros announced after the record floods which left four people injured and significant damage in November, “we will obviously have to increase our level of support”, he added.
Guest this Thursday morning on BFM-RMC, Olivier Véran in turn returned to the exceptional floods observed in the north of France, causing significant damage for several days. For now, “500 residents are still without electricity in Pas-de-Calais,” said the government spokesperson. At the same time, 2,000 residents also remain deprived of access to drinking water.
“We are facing a climate catastrophe,” he stressed, recalling his support “for the residents and the forces on site”. “We are also facing a catastrophe which is bound to repeat itself. It is feared that every year there will be more fires in summer, more floods in winter,” he continued.
In passing, the government spokesperson recalled the existence of certain funds, to “speed up work” in the face of bad weather. “We have set up a green fund which makes it possible to carry out very heavy and costly work for the municipalities,” he underlined. And to assure: “What must be repaired will be, what must be protected will be”
Faced with such floods, Olivier Véran also insisted on the need to “put political questions aside”. Earlier, the president of the Hauts-de-France region, Xavier Bertrand, stepped up to the plate on RMC. “The market gardeners of Saint-Omer are still waiting to be told about compensation,” he denounced, assuring that other farmers had been offered “a cash advance rather than aid”.
“We don’t care about the world,” he was indignant, demanding that ministers “come and settle down with weapons and baggage, not for a few hours but for a few days to resolve the problems.” Comments that are “not very kind towards ministers who come into contact, on the ground in an emergency”, replied Olivier Véran, calling for “to be united in the face of what concerns climate problems”.
More than 300 people evacuated
More than 300 people have been evacuated in recent days in Pas-de-Calais, where the water has reached the level of historic November floods in places. Floods are affecting four other departments in the north-east of France, classified on orange alert.
In Loire-Atlantique, a 73-year-old man was discovered dead in his partially submerged car on Wednesday afternoon after apparently turning onto a road closed to traffic due to flooding. In addition to the coastal river Aa classified in red, 11 rivers in the north-eastern quarter of France are classified in orange, in Pas-de-Calais, but also the North, the Aisne, the Ardennes, the Meuse , Moselle and Meurthe-et-Moselle.
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