Floods in Pas-de-Calais. “I think we are the forgotten ones”, local residents gather a year later

On November 3, 2023, the first flood of the Liane hit Saint-Etienne-au-Mont in Pas-de-Calais and marked the start of a long series of floods. Still exhausted and shocked, 60 victims gathered on this anniversary. To speak out and denounce inaction.

A year ago, historic floods hit Pas-de-Calais. On November 3, 2023, Saint-Etienne-au-Mont, a town near Boulogne-sur-Mer, was affected by the flood of the Liane. A group of local residents gathered for this anniversary. The trauma is still there.

“I think it's important to talk about what happened again. So as not to forget… There are still things to do. I find that things aren't changing: the municipality, the State , I think we are the forgotten ones. My street is completely forgotten. All my furniture is on concrete blocks, I can't do anything, I'm not moving forward. testifies Corinne Beaurain, a resident, affected last year.

She continues: “I had need to be here, to be with everyone. To say that this has to stop, that we no longer have to relive what we experienced.”

>> Also read : IN PICTURES. Floods, rain, storms… A year ago, historic floods hit Pas-de-Calais

“Of course, there are worse people than us when we see what is happening in other countries, but we had to be there,” she adds, in tears, before confiding: “as soon as it rains, I see everything again”.

Nathalie Delattre, from Hesdigneul-lès-Boulogne, upstream of the Liane, came to Saint-Etienne-au-Mont this Sunday, November 3, 2024. Leaning on the railing of a bridge, above the Liane, she says “united” of his neighbors and deplores having to “notice that the banks are not cleaned”.

For her, studies take too much time: “We have to wait to get the results, then we have to wait for the subsidies.”

It seemed important to us to do something calm, without anger.

Sylvia Detout, co-founder of the collective of residents of the Liane

Among the residents, Sylvia Detout, co-founder of the collective of residents of the Liane explains: “We noticed that people needed to come together and talk about it. In our approach, it seemed important to us to do something calm, without anger. We don't need to demonstrate today.”

We are not here to complain or criticize, but we want to understand and move forward together.

Sylvia Detout, from the collective of residents of the Liane

“We wanted to come together and talk. Now, we also want the urban community, the surrounding communities, the prefecture, to see that we are there. That we monitor what is going to happen, that we are in a approach to understanding the phenomenon, we are not here to complain or criticize, but we want to understand and move forward together. reacted Sylvia Detout, from the collective of residents of the Liane, about the reason for the gathering.

On November 3, 2023, storm Ciaran swept through Hauts-de-France and flooded the streets of Saint-Etienne-au-Mont, leaving behind 300 homes sometimes submerged by more than a meter of water.