“One flood before Christmas, seven floods later. » Leaning against her window, in the front row of the flooding of the Loir, the river that crosses Vendôme (Loir-et-Cher), an old woman With clear eyes he repeats his saying with a solemn air to the curious who came to photograph the floods that occurred after the heavy rains of the Kirk depression.
On Saturday, October 12, the department is the last, along with Eure-et-Loir, to still be on orange alert for flooding. Brown water covered the roads of the subprefecture, threatening businesses. On Docteur-Faton Street, the site of a fast food restaurant is already flooded. Not far away, the owner of the Wokasie buffet spread pallets on the sidewalk to facilitate access for his customers, before finally having to give up opening his doors.
At 2:30 p.m., the Loir peaked at 2.24 m, 1 centimeter from the last major flood in 1995, but far from the record of 2.85 m, reached in 1961, when the Red Cross came to distribute meals hot to residents in canoes. The descent was expected at night.
Ephad patients and residents evacuated
As a precautionary measure, approximately one hundred patients from the city hospital and seventy residents from the Tilleuls nursing home were evacuated on Friday. “Since yesterday the water was leaking through the basements and began to penetrate to the ground floor of the emergency room”describes Laurent Brillard, the mayor (various right-wing) of the city. “Therefore, the majority of patients were referred to the André-Gibotteau care center, which depends on the hospital. The most critical were transferred to the Saint-Cœur clinic and even, for some, to the hospitals of Blois and Amboise. As for the residents of the nursing home, they are currently in Blois. »
The three-star campsite Au Cœur de Vendôme, on the Grand-Près site, was the most affected. This three and a half hectare site is located in a flood zone, on the banks of a river. The thirty mobile homes which housed around thirty seasonal grape harvesters, artisans and some tourists, is partially submerged.
Fire divers intercepted three wooden terraces that had detached to join the river bed. “In the last few days it had rained so much that the land was flooded. “Bringing a crane and trucks to remove the mobile homes before the flood would have been too dangerous.”comments, exhausted, Corinne Bernaud, co-director of the site for seven years. “All our efforts have vanished. “We just picked up equipment and furniture.”, he said, hoping the insurer would be understanding.
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