wrecked on the road near Alençon, a family testifies

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Normally, it takes her a quarter of an hour to reach her son's school from Alençon (Orne). But with the Caetano storm and its snow which fell on Alençon and its countryside, this Thursday, November 21, 2024, this young father got a little head start.

Little Siberia

“I left my office at 4:15 p.m., which gave me three quarters of an hour to pick up my son from the Saint-Denis-sur-Sarthon school daycare and then his one-year-old little sister. then with the nanny,” explains Antoine, 35, living in Gandelaine for sixteen months. “The commune is named Little Siberia, I understand why better now,” he smiles the day after the ordeal that he and his family experienced the evening before, as soon as they left Alençon.

“It was blocked at the lights of the road in Brittany with the snow, the time for people to start, then it was blocked for even longer in Pacé roundabout » where the old N12 and the current Alençon deviation join together.

Heavy goods vehicles were prohibited from driving, so they were parked on the side and had to be overtaken in the slush of the snow, so caution was obviously required by driving at walking pace.

He finally reached the school in Saint-Denis-sur-Sarthon at 5:20 p.m. “It was plunged into darkness and no longer had heating,” adds Antoine, who headed to the childminder’s home. of his little daughter.

And there, in the village, the first difficulty presented itself. “I got mired when leaving,I needed a shovel so I could free my minivan and get back on the road.”

At 6 p.m., the father and his two children headed to La Roche-Mabile… “I was obviously riding very slowly and the first little climb was difficult. I had to try it at least ten times to get over it… I told myself that we would never get home since we had to climb a completely different slope afterwards…”

Indeed. But before this big slope, a second climb facing the Roche-Mabile church appeared insurmountable. “I understood that our road ended there for tonight.”

Three quarters of an hour on foot

He waited for his partner who was arriving by the same route… “She wasn't far behind and her car is lighter… But that didn't work either, we parked in the venue's parking lot of La Roche parties” after people helped him park his minivan on the sidewalk a little further down.

Alice then went to knock on a few doors for help or accommodation. “A first home told them that they had no place, the second said that she was a caregiver and had to go to work. People offered us a battery to enlighten us when others reassured us by telling us that it would do it with the Kangoo…”

The family then thought about returning to their home on foot.

The GPS showed us three quarters of an hour of walking with a 4 year old child and a 1 year old baby and especially in the dark of night while there, in La Roche-Mabile, we were in public lighting.

Antoine kept his children warm in his car. “We continued to run it to keep the heat on and we distracted the older one with a cartoon on one of our cell phones because the stress was getting to him.”

The couple finally contacted the mayor. “He was ready to open the party room to us for the night but we would have had nothing to sleep in: no bed, no blanket and we had no food. »

“I’ll be right there”

At 8 p.m., after a few calls here and there, they finally managed to get the phone number of a neighbor farmer and owner of a tractor. “He told us: “I’ll come straight away”! He towed the Kangoo to our house and by 8:30 p.m., all four of us were warm at home! We ended up doing well.”

Alain, the saving neighbor, was warmly thanked by the couple. “But he replied that it was normal for neighbors to help each other! »

This Friday morning, “to complete the picture”, the family woke up without telephone, internet or mobile network but with electricity! “And it’s snowing again like yesterday,” Antoine sighed on November 22 around 11 a.m., doubtful about the possibility of recovering his car left in La Roche-Mabile.

“We chose to live in the countryside so we know the advantages and disadvantages but I wonder what they do in the Alps and the Pyrenees as soon as it snows. »

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