A huge crash shook the village of Augé on Saturday, June 29, 2024 at around 8:45 a.m., when lightning struck the large sequoia located in the courtyard of the Ardoise hotel-restaurant.
The tree, with an estimated height of around thirty meters, was cut almost halfway up, the upper part of the trunk literally exploded.
The impressive scene was filmed and broadcast on the Facebook network.
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Wooden debris, some of it large, was thrown around, causing damage to the roofs of the outbuildings and, apparently lighter, to that of the hotel-restaurant itself. A utility vehicle was also badly damaged.
The upper part of the trunk literally exploded
The mechanic Tony Guillon and a friend testify to this: “At the time of the storm, everything was shaking in the garage, we went to the door, we heard the big noise. We smelled the smoke and saw the damage. There were no flames but it smelled burnt.”
Firefighters intervened and were still on site late in the morning. A security perimeter was set up and firefighters carried out various checks, notably on a gas installation located nearby. The presence of the large scale required the implementation of a diversion from the Coutant road.
The hotel-restaurant was normally closed this weekend. The possibility of reopening on Monday was not clear on Saturday morning, when the courtyard was still strewn with debris and the lower part of the trunk was still standing.
Historic and emblematic
The tree destroyed on Saturday morning was an emblematic landmark in Augé, even part of the stages of the Tèrra Aventura game. It was apparently planted about a century ago by the grandfather of the current mayor, Laurent Baloge, indicated one of the many residents who came to see the damage. “It’s impressive, we’ve always known him there. » It was located in the courtyard of the hotel-restaurant belonging to the Haut-Val-de-Sèvre community of communes. It had been the subject of an inspection no later than last week.
Cor. NR, Adeline Lebastard
