the essential
SERIES. On June 20, 2023, the Moissac sector suffered a storm of rare intensity. This was the case for residents and employees of the Gérard-Chambert specialized reception center, in the Tuc industrial zone.
Their names are Alan, Nathalie or even Auriane. And they all have the same thing in common; they were present in the Gérard-Chambert Specialized Reception House (MAS) on the evening of June 20, 2023, during bad weather in Moissac.
The first two as residents of the establishment which supports around fifty people with disabilities, mental disabilities or autistic disorders. And the last as a simple employee of the structure.
Phone in hand, the young woman shows videos of the scene. “We had our feet in the water, not our knees themselves,” smiles Auriane alongside the residents. It was quite an evening, everyone was in bed around 8:30 p.m. The water rose on the ground floor, we had to go to the large meeting room upstairs. »
Memories that make us smile now but some of the traumas still remain alive.
Climate refugees?
Almost to the day, the Mas inaugurates with great fanfare, this Tuesday, June 18, the renovation work on the 4,600 m2 building.
On this occasion, the director of the Opteo Foundation, Sophie Raymon, looks back on the adventures: “In the middle of the work, we were affected by bad weather. In 7 hours, all the residents had to be relocated by minibus to the four corners of Tarn-et-Garonne and Aveyron. It was a difficult episode but one with tremendous mobilization. »
In her speech, the head of the structure managing MAS Gérard-Chambert even mentions the term “climate refugees”, to mention the situation of residents and employees. A definition that says a lot about the events experienced on June 20.
Medicines, healthcare matters, housing…
That evening, the Bartac river, near the establishment, had burst its banks. Faced with rising water levels, the decision was taken “to immediately bring people with disabilities to safety”. Some of which are in armchairs.
“There was an unexpected movement of solidarity and cohesion. Some neighbors had even offered to house our residents,” recalls the current director of the Mas, Audrey Moine.
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Storm of June 2023: one year later, Moissagais still traumatized
“Some residents found themselves sleeping in the Confluences room,” she continues. We sent them to other structures of the Opteo foundation in the department and elsewhere (Aveyron). But it was not until the following month that the residents found their way back to the establishment. »
But the hardest part for the employees of the Specialized Reception Center was ahead of them: “In addition to the question of transport, there was also the problem of medications to be provided and care matters to be provided for each person. »
A year after the bad weather, Allan and Nathalie seem to be smiling about it. The two residents have returned to their habits in Moissac. Not without some bad memories.
