a new flooded village in Saône-et-Loire, “it’s hard, too hard”

In Laizy, in Saône-et-Loire, 25 homes were affected this Sunday, May 5, by flooding. Due to heavy rainfall, the Gourgeoise, a tributary of the Arroux which had overflowed less than a month ago, suddenly burst its banks, waking up local residents.

“It’s going to smell bad, there’s mold growing on the walls, it’s hard, too hard. In addition, there is my husband who is not in good shape“, confesses on the verge of tears Danielle Genaud, retiree whose house was flooded on May 5. The victim can fortunately count on the help of her neighbors to clean her home in Laizy, near Autun in Saône-et-Loire . Here, it is the Gourgeoise which has overflowed.

However, this watercourse had never flooded before. On the evening of Sunday, May 5, precipitation of around 50 to 60 mm of water fell in less than 20 minutes, creating this flood, according to the village mayor.

“Over a period of 24 hours, we even had precipitation exceeding 80 mm of water. The river reacted in its own way, suddenly and quickly leaving its bed to enter homes.“, adds Michel Ménager, the mayor. During the night from Sunday to Monday, the Arroux rose by one meter.

In Burgundy, the four departments – Yonne, Saône-et-Loire, Nièvre and Côte-d’Or remain on yellow flood alert this Tuesday, May 7. In the Nièvre, the Aron could overflow during the day on Tuesday.

The start of 2024 is marked by rain in Burgundy-Franche-Comté. In March and April, the region had already suffered heavy flooding. During the Easter weekend, the floods were described as 100-year floods, “unheard of”.

► ALSO READ: TRUE OR FALSE. Floods in Burgundy: are the Arroux and Armançon floods “absolutely historic”?

Major damage had been recorded almost everywhere: in Semur-en-Auxois, the inhabitants of the lower part of the town had seen the water rise in just a few moments, creating a furious stream of water which even swept away a low wall. of stones. The Auxois zoological park, in Arnay-sous-Vitteaux, was also flooded.

HAS l’Isle-sur-Serein in Yonne, 20 homes were flooded with water, some up to 40 centimeters deep. Same scenario in Autun, where 30 houses and premises were affected.

A week ago, supercell hail storms hit the region of Chablis and Tonnerre, in Yonne. In just 20 minutes, a large part of the vineyard was destroyed. Winegrowers fear losses of 100% in places.

► ALSO READ: VIDEO. A supercell storm devastates the vines of Chablis: “It brought tears to our eyes”, winegrowers note the damage

► With Fabienne Acosta and Zahra Douche