Accident ” severe “ in Val-de-Marne, truckers stuck on the highway, trains cancelled, school buses suspended… If winter storm Caetano “Now he has left the country”according to Météo-France on Friday, November 22, caused chaos in transport and the meteorological organization warned of a “Risk of slippery phenomena due to new frost from Normandy to Franche-Comté next night.” As of midday Friday, 51 départements, mainly in the northern half of France, remained on alert, but none were already on orange alert.
A motorcyclist is between life and death after an accident that occurred on Thursday afternoon on a motorway near L’Haÿ-les-Roses (Val-de-Marne) involving a Blablacar bus, four vehicles and a motorcycle , the prefectural police informed Agence France-Presse. (AFP) Friday at noon. Four other people are in absolute emergency and 31 are injured, classified as relative emergency, adds the same source.
This accident is “directly related to degraded climatic conditions”said a police source. “From the initial conclusions it appears that the driver of a light vehicle had lost control of his vehicle, which forced the driver of the coach to deviate from his path”details the police headquarters. The bus later overturned on the road and hit a car and the motorcyclist.
200,000 customers without electricity
Additionally, as of 7 a.m. Friday, around 200,000 customers remained without power, up from 270,000 on Thursday. “The most affected regions are Normandy (69,000), Pays de la Loire (37,000), Centre-Val de Loire (22,000)”specifies the Enedis network administrator. In Corsica, some 8,000 homes were also affected, not by the snow but by the wind.
Restrictions on road transport apply in certain areas on Friday, while SNCF traffic remains disrupted locally.
In Franche-Comté, between 2,000 and 2,500 heavy vehicles are blocked on the A36 motorway (Beaune-Mulhouse), stopped in rest areas or on the road, even if a lane has been cleared to allow cars to circulate. “I strongly recommend not taking your vehicle this [vendredi] Tomorrow in the Doubs, it is dangerous”insisted Saadia Tamelikecht, the prefect’s chief of staff, advising motorists not to venture onto the A36.
It was the drop in temperatures between 5 and 9 in the morning that trapped many truckers. Also in Orne, on the A28, there are traffic jams due to trucks being stuck on a slope due to ice. Heavy vehicles circulate despite the prefectural prohibition order, noted the prefecture, which warned: guilty truck drivers will be fined 135 euros.
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School transportation was interrupted on Thursday in several western departments. This remained the case on Friday in Mayenne, in Sarthe and in the five departments of Normandy until noon.
Traffic restrictions
The Paris region, the center and the east are also affected. Seine-et-Marne has suspended public and school transport. School lines and regular bus lines were suspended until midday in the departments of Loir-et-Cher and Eure-et-Loir. In Loiret, traffic on school lines was suspended until midday. School buses do not operate in Haut-Rhin.
Traffic restrictions continue to affect heavy vehicles over 7.5 tonnes, with traffic bans or reduced speeds of 20 km/h and overtaking prohibited in some places. Sections of departmental roads, including highways, have been closed.
In the Manche region, the Granville-Avranches axis was cut between Sartilly and Granville due to the blocking of trucks after heavy snowfall at around 7 am. A section of the A28 was impassable in Orne, but the A10 has reopened near Orleans.
In Ile-de-France, RN 118 is prohibited for vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tons. They cannot overtake on the main roads in the region. For all vehicles, the speed is reduced by 20 km/h on the same axles.
The disruptions also affected rail traffic, as more than 400 trees fell on the tracks, according to an update from the SCNF at 1:00 p.m.
In Normandy, rail traffic has resumed on the Paris-Rouen axis, but cleaning work continues on the Rouen-Le Havre and Paris-Cherbourg tracks, which should be restored by the end of the afternoon.
Elsewhere, there are still disturbances in Ile-de-France on lines L2 and U, as well as in Limousin and in the Nantes region.
