If the rivers gradually return to their beds on Friday in Eure-et-Loir and Seine-et-Marne, the two departments remain placed on red flood alert by Météo-France. The prefect of Eure-et-Loir announced Friday morning a “gradual return to normal” in the departments, while he was in Bonneval, where almost half of the municipalities were affected by the floods, in the wake of the Kirk depression.
In Bonneval, it is time for cleaning after the water receded last night. Several streets in the center, along the Loir, are once again open to traffic. “The oldest, the services which have memory, the mayors tell me that we have not seen this for 60 years or 40 years,” indicates the prefect of Eure-et-Loir.
“It’s impressive, I didn’t expect it”
“Of the 365 municipalities in the department, nearly 40% have been affected, more or less unevenly.” “It was both the intensity and the size of the floods that were indeed an element of surprise,” he continues. Firefighters carried out “840 interventions and sheltered 230 people” in Eure-et-Loir.
Twenty minutes by car from Bonneval, Catherine Bouvet, 69, is one of the passers-by who photograph the banks of the Loir, totally submerged, from a street overlooking the river. “It’s impressive, I didn’t expect it,” she whispers, amazed, to AFP. The one who has lived in Ozoir-le-Breuil, 15 km away, for 33 years says she has “never seen that”.
Houses under water
“The decline continues this morning in Seine-et-Marne, even if areas remain flooded,” details the prefecture in a situation update at 9:50 a.m. Crécy-la-Chapelle, in particular, is still right on the water. The thresholds for the 2016 flood were reached or exceeded on the Grand Morin, a tributary of the Marne, which burst its banks yesterday. However, flood peaks are still expected in both departments throughout the afternoon.
In Eure-et-Loir, “the flood peak has not yet been reached”, detailed prefect Hervé Jonathan at the start of the morning. In Châteaudun, where houses are already underwater, the peak should be reached around 2 p.m., and the authorities expect a record surpassing the flood of January 1961, when the river reached 2.07 m.
Loir-et-Cher, Sarthe and Aisne on orange flood alert
Three departments were still on orange alert for floods on Friday morning: Loir-et-Cher, Sarthe and Aisne. In Haute-Saône, a mini-tornado swept through the town of Cubry-lès-Faverney for a few minutes early Thursday evening, damaging the roofs of eight houses and a shed according to firefighters, without causing any injuries.
The electricity distribution network manager Enedis, for its part, indicated that there were still 9,000 customers without power on Friday morning, particularly in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques (5,200) and the Doubs (1,500). “The crisis will not end with the return of the river to its bed,” warned the prefect of Eure-et-Loir: “Everyone will have to play their role, the insurers will have to be there, but also the state services”.
