2024-01-09 16:25:08
By Julien Da Sois
Published 8 hours ago, Updated 7 hours ago
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Many motorists expressed their anger on social media after finding themselves stranded by snow. The Minister of Transport Clément Beaune tried to clear state services.
«Once again no anticipation, and big mess», «An absolute shame!! 3 cm of snow and Île-de-France is paralyzed!!», «Three snowflakes, a bit of ice and presto!! More than 130 km of traffic jams in the middle of the night and more than fifteen accidents…», «And prevention, Minister Clément Beaune?» The trial for lack of anticipation did not take long after the big chaos on the roads of Île-de-France last night and again this morning, caused by heavy snowfall.
From the headquarters of the Île-de-France Roads Directorate (DiRIF), where he went on Tuesday at dawn, Clément Beaune made the rounds of TV and radio morning shows, refuting any fault on the part of the road services. State, instead passing the buck to Météo-France. “The snowfall was earlier and heavier than anticipated», defended the Minister Delegate in charge of Transport on BFMTV. Indeed, Météo-France recognized “higher amounts of snow fell than expected». «The forecast models presented (Monday) different scenarios in terms of quantity and location», Indicates the service at Figaro. «Throughout the episode, Météo-France was in constant contact with the authorities and road network managers to monitor the evolution of the situation.», he adds.
Also read Why France is paralyzed as soon as it snows a few flakes
«There was a hiccup at the start at Météo-France“, confirms a meteorologist wishing to remain anonymous, calling into question the model on which the public establishment’s forecasts are based, as well as “a reactivity problem». «The yellow snow-ice vigilance was activated very late on Île-de-France», he regrets. Yvelines and Essonne were then placed on orange alert early Tuesday morning, when the snow was already present. But the same meteorologist refuses to undermine Météo-France. “It was not easy to know how much snow there was going to be. It’s easy to say things afterwards and always come across the same organization.»
Also read: Cold wave in France: what is the polar vortex, which lowers temperatures?
The timing of the salting in question
According to Clément Beaune, once the snow episode started, state services were responsive. “As soon as the snowfall was seen, (…) we activated a crisis unit here and we mobilized at my request all the means of salting and snow removal from the start of the night“, he indicated in the program “Telematin» on France 2. That is to say 150 agents and 60 machines, which started operating around 10 p.m., the minister said.
According to the Minister of Transport, it would have been ineffective to start intervening on the roads beforehand. “Salting and snow removal are not done preventively, snow must start to fall on the road so that there can be a capacity for intervention, otherwise it does not work, the means are not effective“, he said on BFMTV. “To be more effective, salting must be done from the first snowfall, even light, in order to remove the snow film», corroborates La Chaîne Météo in an article on the subject published in 2021. However, “perhaps it would have been necessary to have some much more preventive treatments to avoid this situation», Estimated meteorologist Patrick Marlière on BFM Paris.
Former presidential candidate Ségolène Royal, for her part, took a dig at highway concessionaires. “The highway companies, with their lucrative concessions, are not even capable of anticipating, sending equipment to clear the snow and apply anti-slip salt? What a lack of respect. In the past, even when up to a meter of snow fell, the roads and highways were cleared by the DDE», criticized the one who now officiates in the show “Touche pas à mon poste”. Problem, according to Sanef, which operates the A13 in particular, the troubles of motorists happened “on the DiRIF network», and not on its own motorway network.
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#anticipated