Almost seven months after the last floods, there is only one business still closed on Place d’Arques. The hair salon, flooded twice, reopened its doors on Tuesday June 25.
The end of a seven-month ordeal. In Arques (Pas-de-Calais), Sandy’s hairdressing salon was able to reopen this Tuesday, June 25. The show was heavily affected by the floods in Pas-de-Calais last November and January.
A reopening synonymous with great happiness for loyal customers and their hair. “I’ve never seen you with hair this long,” laughs the hairdresser, speaking to Yvette, a client of the salon.
“I’ve been pestering her for a month to find out when she was going to reopen. I wouldn’t have gone anywhere else anyway,” explains Karine, also a customer.
Problem with insurance
The return of customers brings comfort to the heart but it is still difficult for the hairdresser to turn the page on these floods. “We always have an eye in the rear view which tells us ‘be careful’. We remain on the alert (…) the fear I have is that it will come back in November,” says Sandy Noisiez , manager of the Sandy’style coiffure salon in Arques, at the microphone of BFM Grand Littoral.
The hairdresser has not yet been fully reimbursed by insurance. A problem that still concerns many victims.
To try to answer this, an on-call meeting in the presence of the sub-prefect in charge of flooding is planned for this Wednesday, June 26 at the Arques town hall.
“I can assure you that I have received five, six times from residents. So now as soon as I have appointments, on administrative blockages, even if I can provide a lot of compassion and listening, I believe that after a while we have to move on to something else,” said Benoît Roussel, mayor of Arques.
“At least the sub-prefect comes and we provide an answer to the resident,” said the councilor. This permanence will undoubtedly be renewed at the town hall. In Arques, nearly 400 homes were flooded this winter.
Florine Kurek with Alicia Foricher
