“We started to turn the page. » Laurence Picard, the (Renaissance) mayor of Coulommiers (Seine-et-Marne), says it in one breath, the one you exhale after a very difficult ordeal. And his town of 15,000 inhabitants experienced one this Thursday, October 10. Like everywhere in Brie, Storm Kirk and its deluge of rain hit, drowning the town center under 1.20 m of water in places. “I’ve never seen that,” the elected official from the country can’t believe it. Of the 200 businesses in the city center, 57 were flooded. Today, most have been able to bandage their wounds, mop up, clean and reopen their doors to customers. Four shops, located on rue Bertrand-Flornoy, remain closed.
In this busy street, which connects the city center to the SNCF station, Nicolas has only been able to welcome his customers since last Saturday. In his business called La Capsule, he sells manga, figurines and “all related products related to animation”. At the height of the flood of the Grand Morin and its streams which crisscross the center, 45 cm of water invaded the store and 60 cm the reserve. “I have 100,000 euros in losses in total, counting the 25% of stocks and the destroyed furniture as well as the cessation of activity for a month,” sighs the trader.
