“The whole chain held.” Sébastien Lecornu praised on Monday June 29 the action of his government after the exceptional heatwave which hit the country and earned him criticism for “unpreparedness”, raising the possibility of a new episode of extreme heat.
“The entire chain of forecasting, and then reaction, from Météo France agents to hospital agents at the emergency entrance of our hospitals, including the civil security forces (…) held up,” underlined the Prime Minister, introducing a new interministerial crisis unit (CIC) intended to establish an assessment of what “worked” or not.
Referring to “the prospect of a resumption of a heatwave episode”, he said he expected “decisions in the coming days” from his ministers with the construction of an “Orsec extreme heat plan” to mobilize the response in terms of civil security.
Mr. Lecornu notably highlighted the question of the “endurance” of civil security forces in the event of forest fires, while six departments in the south of France – Pyrénées-Orientales, Aude, Hérault, Gard, Bouches-du-Rhône and Vaucluse – will be in “very high danger” for fires on Wednesday July 1, according to Météo France.
France has seen a historic heatwave decline since Sunday, with the end of the red alert on Monday, but health vigilance remains, amid fears of high excess mortality. Weather scenarios indicate a possible resumption of extreme heat next week.
The nursing homes “held out”
By increasing the number of interministerial crisis units, or by activating the highest level of health mobilization, the government is careful not to repeat the mistakes of the 2003 heatwave, which left 15,000 dead. But Sébastien Lecornu estimated that “any mechanical comparison” with the heatwave of 2003, to which this episode is compared, “would be inappropriate” regarding excess mortality, which this time affected more people at home and not nursing homes.
“The number of victims at home is much higher than in all previous episodes” while nursing homes “held on” despite “strong pressure”, he underlined. Sébastien Lecornu was also pleased that “the energy system has held up” indicating that, even if air conditioning consumption had increased by 25%, France had “continued to export electricity”.
While healthcare workers are also suffering from the heat, he promised that the first air conditioners in hospitals, part of an order of 30,000 devices validated on Friday, would be delivered “at the end of the week, beginning of next week”, in order to guarantee them a “much milder” situation in the event of another heatwave.
Responsibilities
In addition to air conditioning, he considered that there was an “issue on infrastructure”, in particular school buildings, which are “the responsibility of the municipalities”. Faced with the heavy human toll that is beginning to take shape, political pressure has further increased on the government, accused of “incompetence” and “inaction”.
For his political opponents, focused on the 2027 presidential election, government action has been largely insufficient. With long-term choices particularly singled out. “We will have to shed light on the very heavy human toll that is expected to determine political responsibilities,” attacked the head of the Ecologists Marine Tondelier on Sunday.
Former Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne denounced the “posture” of those who, “over the years, lose interest in the subject (…) and suddenly come out with the plan supposed to resolve everything”, without completely sparing Sébastien Lecornu. “After my departure from Matignon, I am not sure that ecological and energy planning was carried out with the same energy,” she said.
