after storm Kirk, update on flooding (and recession)

WEATHER – The flood continues, but vigilance remains essential. This Saturday morning, the remains of Storm Kirk are still very present in several departments. The situation is gradually improving in Seine-et-Marne, so much so that Météo France has lifted the last red alert there for floods in the country. The Ile-de-France department thus goes into full orange vigilance, just like the only two other departments of Eure-et-Loir and Loir-et-Cher.

In its 6:00 a.m. morning bulletin, Vigicrues informs that “the rains forecast for Saturday are light in the north of the country and should not counteract the decreasing trend upstream of the rivers.” The organization specifies that “under these conditions, the current floods continue their slow propagation downstream”.

Floods, however, remain significant on the Grand Morin downstream (Seine-et-Marne), the Loir upstream and the Eure upstream (Eure-et-Loir), as well as on the Loir vendômois (Loir-et-Cher), warns Météo -France. If the situation improves, caution remains necessary because “Showers are to be feared on Monday, with possible passages in the regions affected by the floods”.

Nearly half of the municipalities flooded in Eure-et-Loir

In Eure-et-Loir, almost half of the municipalities were affected by flooding in the wake of the Kirk depression. In Bonneval, where the Loir had flooded the town center, as you can see below, and forced dozens of residents to leave their homes, the level returned this Friday at 8:00 p.m. to 0.90 m, compared to a peak of 2.13 m the previous evening.

A historic flood peak reached this Friday evening

On the other hand, in the Cloyes-les-Trois-Rivières sector, downstream, the town center was invaded by the waters of the Loir and all traffic was impossible there, noted an AFP photographer. Sharing impressive aerial view of floods, firefighters appealed to residents “to remain cautious”, as you can see below.

According to Vigicrues, the peak was reached in Cloyes around 7:00 p.m., at the historically high level of 1.85 m compared to 1.80 m during the January 1995 flood. “Seventeen people were evacuated at the height of the rising waters,” reported in its Friday evening newspaper France 3 Val-de-Loire.

In total, some 800 rescue operations have been carried out since the start of the bad weather, with 304 people evacuated and brought to safety. According to a report from the Ministry of the Interior, the bad weather and floods caused by Kirk have at this stage left one seriously injured and 11 lightly injured.

Hospitals evacuated “as a precaution”

In Loir-et-Cher, in Vendôme, the town hospital and a nursing home were preemptively evacuated, the town hall having warned on Friday against a “rising waters delayed by approximately 24 hours”. Also in Essonne, a department on green alert but adjoining Eure-et-Loir and Seine-et-Marne, a hospital was evacuated “as a precaution” due to the rising waters of the Yerres, the prefecture told AFP.

The transfer of 57 patients from the Val d’Yerres private hospital to other establishments was to be carried out on Friday evening, after the evacuation of patients in the most critical states with the support of a motorized police escort. national park of Essonne.

The damage to the electricity distribution network was also significant. Friday at 6:00 p.m., 5,000 homes remained without electricity due to the passage of Kirk, mainly in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques (4,000), according to the electricity distribution network manager Enedis.

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