On the night of September 8 to 9, a road and several homes were flooded in Frencq (Pas-de-Calais). This is the sixth time in less than a year that a disaster victim has been affected.
A scene that is becoming commonplace. In Frencq (Pas-de-Calais), a village of 800 inhabitants in the Montreuillois was hit by floods on the night of Sunday 8 to Monday 9 September.
In just a quarter of an hour, the Witrepin, a stream that flows from the villages of Hubersent and Cormont, burst its banks and reached the road. Mud polluted two nearby homes.
Alexandre, six times affected by disaster in one year
Alexandre, a resident of the commune, has suffered this disaster for the sixth time in less than a year. “We have to seal ourselves off to prevent the water from getting in,” he laments on BFM Grand Littoral.
Especially since the work undertaken in his house since the last disaster had just been completed. “The worst thing is that we had just finished the bedroom, yesterday, around 9 p.m. Two hours later, we had water in the house. We’ll have to wait for it to dry to see if the humidity hasn’t risen up onto the placo, unfortunately. Will the insurance companies take this into account? That is the question,” Alexandre says, dejected.
For David, a neighbor, in addition to the material, it is also necessary to worry about the mental health of the residents faced with these recurring situations.
“I’m not sure people can take time out of their jobs to do this (cleaning). We have situations where people are going to start getting depressed, it’s going to be catastrophic.”
140,000 euros of work in the municipality
Even Norbert Magnier, the mayor of Frencq, is exhausted by the situation. Work to reduce flood risks is planned by the end of the year. “I have to do 140,000 euros of work. We’re fed up and then, it’s always the mayor who is responsible, so that’s a problem,” he regrets on BFM Grand Littoral.
Dikes must be built to hold more water than the current retention basins. This time, the flooding seems to be less the result of bad weather than of negligence. According to local residents, a company that came to trim a neighbor’s hedges blocked the stream by throwing branches into it.
Now, after these new floods, residents and the town hall are fearing the arrival of winter.
Florine Kurek and Cosima Mezidi Alem with Florent Bascoul
