More than 64,000 customers were without electricity on Wednesday evening due to the Kirk depression which is crossing France, mainly in the South, Enedis, the distribution network manager, announced to AFP. According to Enedis, 35,000 homes are without electricity in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, 8,000 in the Landes, 7,500 in Ariège, 4,500 in the Gers, 4,400 in the Rhône, 2,100 in the Loire and as many in the Ain and 500 in the Hautes-Pyrénées.
The Kirk depression continued to dump downpours of water on the country on Wednesday evening, crossing Île-de-France towards the north-east with Seine-et-Marne now on red alert. The government called for “caution”, while in the South, a boater died off the coast of Sète and another is in absolute emergency due to the strong swell shaking the Hérault which caused three boats to capsize, announced the prefecture of this department.
Video“Our stomach is upset”: Seine-et-Marne is preparing for the worst before the storm Kirk
A risk of “strong to exceptional” flooding on the Grand Morin River, a sub-tributary of the Seine, justified the placement of Seine-et-Marne on red alert, according to Vigicrues. “Rapid rises and localized overflows could be observed as early as Wednesday evening,” warns the specialized government site.
21 departments on orange alert Thursday
In addition to Seine-et-Marne, where school transport will be suspended on Thursday, 29 departments are placed on orange alert on Wednesday, including 20 for “rain-flooding”, eight for “wind” and three for floods (Alpes-Maritimes, Meurthe- et-Moselle, Vendée), some may be for two vigilances, details the Météo France bulletin published at 8 p.m.
Météo France now estimates that only 21 are the number of departments that will be on orange alert on Thursday, including 15 for “rain-flooding”, five for wind and three for floods. Seine-et-Marne should remain on red alert on Thursday.
At the end of a crisis meeting in Paris, the Minister of Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher highlighted the mobilization of “all state services” and called “everyone to exercise caution”. “These episodes will be repeated. We are in a moment where climate change is reflected concretely in our daily lives,” she stressed to journalists.
