After the torrential rains that fell in central-eastern and southeastern France, the time has come for a pause. Only the Gironde department remains under orange watch for “floods” on Saturday, October 19, while twenty-five departments are now under yellow watch, according to Météo France.
The meteorological organization points out, in its 10 o’clock bulletin, a “Major flooding during high tides at the confluence of the Garonne and Dordogne” in it “Bordeaux Sector”. “The prefect of Gironde asks everyone to be extremely vigilant”reports a press release from the prefecture, specifying that this orange surveillance refers “all the municipalities at the confluence of the Garonne and Dordogne”.
On Friday morning, the red “flood” watch was lifted in the last four affected departments (Rhône, Loire, Haute-Loire and Lozère), while eighteen departments in the southern half remained under an orange “flood” watch. or “rains”. flood”.
The A47 motorway is completely reopened in both directions between Saint-Etienne and Lyon, according to Bison futé, in time for holiday departures. However, the TER (regional trains) Lyon-Saint-Etienne line, the busiest in France, remains closed. A partial resumption of traffic is planned for Monday on the Lyon-Givors axis, but the return to normality could take longer in the most affected area (between Givors and Saint-Etienne).
In Centre-East, emergency services carried out 2,300 interventions during the bad weather, considered the most violent episode in the Cévennes. “for forty years”according to the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier.
The rains, which reached between 600 and 700 millimeters in certain areas of the Ardèche, caused three minor injuries in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. In Paris, a tree fell on a family, whose father did not survive, without the link to bad weather being formally established.
An Ardèche deputy asks to save communities from budget cuts
The deputy (Socialist Party) of Ardèche Hervé Saulignac asked the government to free local authorities, and in particular his department, the most affected by the floods, from “the puncture” foreseen in the draft budget for 2025.
Debates on the budget in the National Assembly periodically evoke a possible ” effort “ local authorities, which could reach 5 billion euros. According to the deputy, the Ardèche contribution should “around 8 million euros”he wrote in a letter addressed to Barnier, a copy of which was obtained by Agence France-Presse (AFP). Gold “The damage, impossible to assess at this point, will amount to several million euros for modest municipalities, since 70% of them have less than 1,000 inhabitants”.
These municipalities will therefore turn to the department, which will already have to finance the costs of the important rescue operations carried out by firefighters, underlines the elected official, president of the Ardèche departmental council from 2012 to 2017. He therefore asks that the Ardèche is placed on the list of twenty non-contributing departments, among which are already Gard and Lozère, two neighboring departments.
On Franceinfo, the deputy announced that a “ten mayors” told him that “Five or ten years of investment budget in your municipality will not be enough to repair the damage”. “At a time when we will need a lot of money to rebuild”it is necessary “leave this money [des collectivités] in the box »he said, lamenting that a “exceptional help”which however would be necessary, “does not exist and [ne soit] unplanned ».
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The Lyon branch of Greenpeace, for its part, called for a “Contribution of oil and gas companies” for the repair of damage, taking into account its ” responsibility “ on climate change and “The exceptional profits they have registered in recent years”.
