A municipal decree to prohibit natural disasters. This is the highly symbolic act of the mayor of Breil-sur-Roya. This town in the south of France was hit hard by storm Alex in 2020. Since January 1, the town is no longer insured. All contracts have been terminated.
A municipal decree to prohibit natural disasters. In Breil-sur-Roya, a town of 2,400 inhabitants in the south of France, the town was hit hard in 2020 by storm Alex which cost 10 million euros in damage to insured property.
But in June this year, the town's insurer decided to terminate all contracts for the year 2025. The town's buildings have therefore no longer been insured since January 1, to the great dismay of the mayor who wanted to pass a message.
For six months, the municipality has been trying everything to find a new insurer. Public market, canvassing other companies… she even went to the administrative court to force the former insurer to take over the contract. But for the moment no solution. So Mayor Sébastien Olharan issued a radical decree.
“I actually said to myself, all I can do today is hope that there isn't another natural disaster or disaster of any kind on one of the buildings. And I told myself that if I didn’t hope for it, I was going to try to ban it,” he points out.
A decree sent to Emmanuel Macron and François Bayrou
In detail, the decree therefore prohibits fires, floods, but also snow and violent winds… The mayor himself describes it as absurd, but it was a way for him to raise the alarm .
“Public property is the heritage of everyone, of all citizens, which is paid for with taxpayers' taxes. How can we accept that they may not be covered in the event of a disaster?” he asks.
Sébastien Olharan intends to send his decree to the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister. He hopes that the law will evolve, for example, by creating a municipal insurance system financed by public funds.
Lucas Nitzsche with Guillaume Descours
