2024-01-03 20:20:48
The French civil security rescue team evacuates residents after the Aa river overflowed in Arques, near Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais), January 3, 2024. PASCAL ROSSIGNOL / REUTERS
Barefoot in his plastic flip-flops, Yannick Carpentier is frozen on his doorstep, his eyes riveted on the water rushing down rue Adrien-Danvers, in the lower town of Arques, near Saint-Omer (Pas -de-Calais). It’s 9 a.m. this Wednesday, January 3, and here, everyone has understood that it won’t stop. There is nothing left to do but wait for the ravages of the flood. From a certain height and a certain flow rate, the water of the Lower Meldyck, fed by the Aa, goes crazy.
Read also: Pas-de-Calais again hit by floods, two months after historic floods
Over time, the Carpentiers have acquired the reflexes. The couple had been watching the rising waters since last night and knew what awaited them. « In November, on now[vait] already had the right. When the mayor put a message on his Facebook to evacuate the cars, we understood”, says Aurore. So, they brought out the sandbags distributed by the city during the floods of November 11, 2023.
Mud and gasoline mixed
A care assistant for the elderly, Aurore received a call from her director telling her that she could not work on Wednesday. That’s good, she really has better things to do: “ I watched for municipal employees and negotiated around ten bags to also protect the commercial premises next door. It is disused. Last time, the water from their house came to us through the walls. » Water mixed with mud and gasoline when the tanks at the Intermarché station, located 200 meters away, overflowed. A stench.
A little further on, a civil security vehicle from Nogent-le-Rotrou (Eure-et-Loir) is waiting for the officer who is taking stock with local firefighters. He drove all night to be at work this morning, like a hundred others who have just arrived as reinforcements in the department. A municipal tractor continues to distribute sand to threatened residents. Too late for a part of the neighborhood where the rushing water is already brushing against doorsteps.
Also read the report: Article reserved for our subscribers In Pas-de-Calais, after historic floods, mutual aid, fatigue and the hope of a calm
A man arrives from the flooded area, carrying large shopping bags full of clothes. His wife who “afraid of water” collects them to put them dry on the ground. He returns, without boots, in muddy water up to his hips, to try to save what he can at his son’s house, flooded for the second time.
The couple came from Longuenesse, 5 kilometers from Arques to “help the kid”. “In November, he lost his car, classified as a wreck by the insurance company. We were told that the region would reimburse the deductibles, but that only works for homes”, explains his mother. All that, plus a death in the family over the holidays,” it’s too much, we can’t take it anymore », they say.
You have 60% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
#water