Power cuts, heavy snowfall… Storm Caetano crosses France towards the east

Around 270,000 customers were without electricity on Thursday, November 21 evening, due to winter storm Caetano, which notably caused heavy snowfall.

At 6 p.m., according to Enedis, the main manager of the electricity network in France, the power cuts particularly affected Normandy (90,000 customers), Loire" rel="tag">Pays de la Loire (61,500) and Centre-Val de Loire (27,000). . The public group specified that it had mobilized 1,400 agents to restore the situation as quickly as possible.

On Friday, thirty-one departments will still be placed on orange snow, ice and wind vigilance, compared to around fifty on Thursday, Météo-France reported in its bulletin published shortly after midnight. The two departments of Corsica should experience a “episode of very strong winds (…) until midday”.

The twenty-nine departments affected by snow and ice range from Normandy to Haut-Rhin, via Ile-de-France. There may be a “high risk of sliding phenomenon due to refreezing over a large part of the northern half of the country”warned Météo-France.

In Haute-Saône, minimum temperatures could thus fall between −8°C and −9°C in places, with a risk of refreezing and “in the morning, dangerous road phenomena”warned the prefecture.

Dozens of road accidents

Although the snowfall, which is rather unusual in the west of France, has decreased significantly, it has had significant consequences. Dozens of road accidents were already to be reported on Thursday. In Manche, an accident on public roads left one seriously injured.

School transport was interrupted in several western departments. This will still be the case on Friday in Mayenne and in the five Normandy departments until midday. Collective transport of children will also be prohibited in Sarthe.

The Paris region, the center and the East will also be affected. Seine-et-Marne will suspend public and school transport. School lines and regular bus lines will be suspended until midday in the departments of Loir-et-Cher and Eure-et-Loir. In Loiret, traffic on school lines will be suspended until midday. In Haut-Rhin, school buses will not take place.

Traffic restrictions affected heavy goods vehicles weighing 7.5 tonnes on Thursday, with speeds reduced by 20 km/h and overtaking bans in places. Sections of departmental roads, and even highways, have been closed. This will still be the case in Sarthe on Friday, and traffic will be prohibited on the A28 between Alençon and Le Mans in both directions.

In Ile-de-France, the RN 118 will be prohibited on Friday for vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes which will not be able to overtake on the main roads in the region. For all vehicles, the speed is lowered by 20 km/h on the same axes.

Trees fallen on the railway tracks

The disruptions also affected trains. Added to this was the social movement underway at the SNCF. This will still be the case on Friday, said the SNCF, while trees fell on the tracks in places “in Normandy, Pays de la Loire, New Aquitaine and Ile-de-France”.

Trains will not run in Normandy until midday “time to pass the reconnaissance trains and carry out clearances and repairs”says the SNCF. In Pays de la Loire, “the region was very affected by falling trees”. “Traffic is gradually resuming in Nantes-Angers” but on the other hand, “the other lines of the Étoile de Nantes will not be able to resume until tomorrow during the day”.

In New Aquitaine, recognitions will “continue tomorrow morning to ensure the possibility of resuming traffic”.

“In Ile-de-France, there are still disruptions on line P between Tournan and Coulommiers, L2 between Garches Marnes la C and St Nom la Brétèche and line T13 for the entire evening”specifies the SNCF.

The meteorological phenomenon is “particularly impactful in the west of France, the Pays de la Loire, Normandy and Brittany regions,” commented Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister of Ecological Transition, Energy, Climate and Risk Prevention during a trip to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (Haute-Savoie).

The storm, which is moving towards the east of the country, has also caused significant delays at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, where the authorities have asked companies to cancel 10% of their flights.