The department of Eure-et-Loir was placed, on Thursday, October 10, on red alert for flooding following the intense rainfall caused by the Kirk depression, warned Météo-France, which also maintains the Seine and Marne on red alert at midday. bulletin.
“On the Loir River, significant overflows are occurring in the Bonneval and Saint-Maur-sur-le-Loir sectors. “In these sectors, increases in levels are still expected and harmful overflows could occur during the afternoon of this Thursday.”specifies the specialized government site Vigicrues.
The bad weather associated with the Kirk depression that crosses Ile-de-France towards the northeast since Wednesday “ weaken and evacuate gradually. Heavy rain could reach 100 mm in some places, aggravated by wind gusts of more than 110 km/h. Consequently, thirty-five apartments were placed on orange watch Thursday morning. ” wind “ AND ” rain “reports Météo-France.
A sailor died off the coast of Sète and another is in absolute emergency due to the strong waves that shook the Hérault and capsized three boats, the department’s prefecture announced. In some places, transport was seriously affected due to flooding, such as in the Yvelines, especially in the Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse sector.
More than 65,000 customers were left without electricity on Thursday morning, mainly in the south and east, distribution network administrator Enedis reported. Early in the morning, “We identified 65,000 customers who were left without electricity, especially in the following departments: Pyrénées-Atlantiques (16,000), Doubs (9,500), Jura (4,900) and Ain (4,420)”Enedis said in a press release.
National Assembly buildings flooded
In Paris, rainfall caused interventions in prestigious places, from the National Assembly to the Army Museum in Les Invalides. The National Assembly buildings were briefly flooded on Wednesday night due to a burst pipe while heavy rain fell in the capital, the press service of the National Assembly learned on Thursday.
Two Assembly buildings, which house elected officials, were evacuated after a water leak around 10 p.m. Firefighters quickly stopped the leak, but about a hundred officers were evacuated and lodged in hotels for the night.
After a crisis meeting in Paris, the government mobilized “all state services” in order to “reduce risks” linked to Kirk’s depression, the Minister of Ecological Transition and Energy, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, announced on Wednesday “Everyone be careful”.
She mentioned at this stage “specific alterations, some power outages.” “It is serious, it can happen quickly, we know how to deal with it, but it is important to be careful”he stressed. “These episodes will be repeated. “We are in a moment where climate change is concretely reflected in our daily lives”he stressed to the press.
School transport suspended in Seine-et-Marne
The rivers are also overflowing. Seine-et-Marne is on red alert due to flood risk “from strong to exceptional”. The Grand Morin, a tributary of the Marne, has broken away from its channel, covering fields and roads with its waters in places between Coulommiers and Pommeuse (Seine-et-Marne), journalists from Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
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There, before the peak of flooding expected at noon, streets and businesses were already flooded in the morning, but for the moment only one family had to be relocated there and the school was closed as a precaution. “It is a strong flood, not the flood of the century, but currently we are at the level of the 2016 flood, 3.40 meters”indicated Mayor Christophe de Clerck, during a press conference. “This is the fourth time this year that these people have been flooded”he lamented. Firefighters report that interventions focus on evacuations and safety.
School transportation is suspended on Thursday in the department, according to a decree adopted on Wednesday by the prefecture. “Special school circuits, transportation circuits for students with disabilities and regular line services, mainly for access to educational establishments, are prohibited for October 10 throughout the department.”specifies the decree. The A5B motorway is closed near Evry-Grégy sur Yerres due to flooding, the prefecture reports.
In addition to Seine and Marne, six departments remain on orange alert for flooding according to the morning bulletin of Météo-France (Orne, Eure et Loire, Sarthe, Vendée, Deux-Sèvres and Meurthe-et-Moselle). However, the orange rain watch has been lifted in all the affected departments (Belfort Territory, Haute-Saône, Doubs), as well as for winds.
The flood watch has been lifted in the Alpes-Maritimes. Several rivers flirted with their alert threshold during the night but the trend is downward. As a precaution, residents of Saint-Martin-Vésubie and Fontan were evacuated.
Traffic interrupted on several SNCF lines
According to the Delegate Minister responsible for Transport, François Durovray, the difficulties at the end of the day on Wednesday persisted “limited”citing in particular “some planes diverted”. Heavy rains also affected numerous roads, from Vendée to Ile-de-France.
For its part, the SNCF carried out localized traffic cuts at 7 p.m. on Wednesday to guarantee the safety of travelers and staff, especially in New Aquitaine, Pays de la Loire and Rhône-Alpes. “The railway situation is improving (…) almost everywhere in France. More than 500 SNCF Réseau agents have intervened tirelessly since yesterday [mercredi] clear the lanes and allow traffic to resume as quickly as possible.”the SNCF specifies in its midday situation report.
In detail, in New Aquitaine, “Traffic has been progressively restored, especially in Dax-Tarbes-Lourdes. Reconnaissance continues on the Bayonne-Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, Pau-Bedous, Guéret-Montluçon, Busseau-Felletin and Saint-Sulpice-Guéret sections..
On the Isle of France, “Due to the floods, traffic on the RER E is interrupted” with limited traffic in Paris-Est. The T13 tram service has resumed its circulation. On line P and on the TER Vallée de la Marne line, traffic is interrupted “beyond Meaux”of the “expertise” being in progress.
In Pays de la Loire, “Rail traffic remains interrupted on the Sainte-Pazanne – Le Croisic and Sainte-Pazanne – Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie routes. “Buses have been launched.” The resumption of traffic will take place on Friday morning, assures the SNCF.
In Burgundy-Franche-Comté, the Besançon-Belfort line awaits “final checks” to reopen. The Dôle-Besançon and Nevers-Cosne lines have resumed normally.
In Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, “Traffic has resumed on all lines”after having been interrupted between Bourg-en-Bresse and Lyon by Villars-les-Dombes as well as between Tassin and Lozanne. No TGV lines were affected by the storm.
The equivalent of a month of rain
A month’s worth of rain had been forecast for Wednesday alone on the route from Vendée to Champagne-Ardenne. In Noirmoutier-en-l’Ile, in Vendée, the hospital center was affected by a flood. Many roads have been and sometimes still are flooded in many sectors of the department. Firefighters have carried out 134 interventions since the start of the storm and have received more than 536 calls.
The heavy rains also caused flooding of the A11 motorway towards Paris in the town of Chartres (Eure et Loir), which caused the closure of this lane, said Bison Futé.
In the Pays de la Loire, flooding affected the roads between Saint-Nazaire and Le Croisic, Nantes and Pornic, as well as between Nantes and Saint-Gilles, interrupting rail traffic in some places. In Loire-Atlantique, twenty-two roads have been totally or partially closed, according to the departmental council. Firefighters carried out 456 interventions, mainly due to flooding, and 89 municipalities were affected, with the south of the Nantes metropolitan area being especially affected.
In New Aquitaine, a strong gust of wind was felt, especially in the western peaks of the Pyrenees: according to Météo-France, gusts of 211 kilometers/hour were recorded during the night in the area of the Iraty ski resort, in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques. About 120 kilometers/hour were recorded at the tip of Socoa, in Ciboure, and 109 kilometers/hour at Cap Ferret.
Storm Kirk continues the very wet trend of the year across most of mainland France. At the end of the month of September, the wettest in twenty-five years, the average annual rainfall totals have already been exceeded in almost all parts of mainland France.
September was also marked on a global scale by “extreme rainfall”aggravated by the abnormally high temperatures that have been recorded on the planet for more than a year, a consequence of climate change, according to the European Copernicus Observatory.
