On the night of November 1 to 2, 2023, storm Ciaran swept across the coast of Finistère and swept inland. Wind peaks of more than 210 km/h on the coasts, 140 km/h in the interior, as well as waves reaching 21 m high, caused considerable material damage, uprooting a large part of the trees, electrical lines and roofs of the department in a few hours… Never seen since the hurricane of 1987.
Logonna-Daoulas, a town and small peninsula facing its big sister Crozon, was devastated by a veritable wind corridor which also ravaged the national forest of Landévennec, before continuing its infernal route towards the land. A year later, in addition to the memory of crushed cars and blown-off roofs, it is the trees, or rather what remains of them, which remain the scars of this devastating “hurricane”. And many of them fell on the Bendy road, at the end of the peninsula, thus cutting off the inhabitants from the rest of the world for more than three days. “We no longer had electricity, the network was erratic, we were literally locked in our homes because of hundred-year-old trees which suddenly fell… and which blocked our only route to the outside! », remembers Henri, 76 years old.
For five months, the town hall was forced to close access to its 30 km of trails, the vast majority of which are coastal. Even if the latter were able to be “cleared as much as possible” and reopen recently, thanks to the support of citizen volunteers and the technical services of the town hall, the bad weather and the precipitation of recent months have considerably slowed down the efforts, and continue to precipitate coastline erosion. “The Department Council had allocated to each municipality a budget of 5,000 euros to help clear this type of damage, but we still did not have pruners available, or at indecent rates,” confides Yves Guignot, deputy to the environment. “We had to manage differently, like many others. »
“Insurance companies have not always played the game”
At the beginning of November 2023, up to 1,100 Finistère firefighters were on the front, at the height of Ciaran. The human toll was relatively limited with 3 serious injuries and 54 minor injuries. However, an Enedis agent was electrocuted during an intervention on a line in Pont-Aven, two days after the storm, which deprived one in two households of electricity in Finistère.
A year later, there is still work in the municipalities, particularly coastal ones, and individuals are still entangled in the administrative procedures of insurance, appraisals and works. Same fight for farmers, in total desolation for some. Like organic market gardener Sandrine Gawron, in Plougastel-Daoulas, whose 2 hectares of farms and cold greenhouses were ravaged and folded. “We were supposed to receive 20,000 euros,” she recalls. “The damage, destruction and lost crops are estimated at 200,000 euros. And in the end, we got 7,000 euros… We should be compensated, but when? »
The people of Finistère are still taking stock of Ciaran, but are more worried about the storm season which is about to start. “Our buildings, even in cities more fortified like Brest, were clearly damaged,” says Ewen, a 42-year-old from Brest. “Insurance companies have not always played the game; the State does not realize what our department suffered a year ago either. The next gusts of wind will hurt. And who will pay? »
