Storm Kirk: the state of natural disasters recognized in Essonne and Yvelines

In mid-October, 11 departments (Ardèche, Alpes-Maritimes, Corrèze, Essonne, Eure-et-Loir, Haute-Loire, Loire-Atlantique, Loire, Lozère, Rhône, Yvelines) suffered exceptional flooding caused by the passage of Storm Kirk. Residents of 380 municipalities recognized as natural disasters can now request compensation from their insurance company for damage caused by bad weather.

Exceptional floods

From October 16 to 20, 2024, the Kirk depression swept across part of France, causing rain-flooding, wind and flood phenomena of exceptional magnitude. “Encountering such high rainfall intensities in autumn is not usual in these areas”, indicates Météo France: “We have thus recorded values ​​sometimes never measured in the following stations in 1 climatological day (between 8 a.m. and 8 a.m.)” , like “73 mm in Le Perray (78) or the equivalent of more than a month of rain”. The heavy precipitation caused flooding by runoff and overflow of rivers, but also landslides, mudslides and debris flows. Many roads, railways and schools had to be closed and nursing homes evacuated. Several thousand affected homes, businesses and public establishments were deprived of electricity.

State of natural disaster

Given the extent of the damage, the government recognized the state of natural disaster in nearly 380 municipalities by decree published Tuesday, November 5. “The abnormal intensity of the phenomenon during the event is characterized with regard to the cumulative precipitation or the flow of watercourses which have a return period greater than 10 years” (decree of October 31, 2024 recognizing the state natural disaster, JORF n° 0262 of November 5, 2024). This recognition is mainly carried out for floods and mudslides over the period from October 16 to 20, 2024. Some municipalities are recognized as being in a state of natural disaster due to the abnormal intensity of the phenomenon during the event, characterized by cumulative precipitation combined with the state of water saturation of the soil which favored runoff.

Yvelines and Essonne: the municipalities concerned

In the department of Yvelines (78), the municipalities concerned are as follows: Ablis, Auffargis, Beynes, Boinville-le-Gaillard, Bonnelles, Les Bréviaires, Bullion, Carrières-sur-Seine, La Celle-les-Bordes, Cernay- la-Ville, Chatou, Chevreuse, Choisel, Dampierre-en-Yvelines, Émancé, Les Essarts-le-Roi, La Falaise, Houilles, Jouars-Pontchartrain, Lévis-Saint-Nom, Longvilliers, Maurepas, Le Mesnil-Saint-Denis, Neauphle-le-Château, Orcemont, Orgeval, Orphin, Orsonville, Paray-Douaville, Le Perray-en-Yvelines , Ponthévrard, Prunay-en-Yvelines, Rambouillet, Rochefort-en-Yvelines, Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines, Saint-Forget, Saint-Hilarion, Saint-Lambert, Saint-Martin-de-Bréthencourt, Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, Sainte-Mesme, Sartrouville, Senlisse, Sonchamp, Tousssus-le- Noble, Villiers-Saint-Frédéric.

In the department of Essonne (91), the municipalities concerned are as follows: Bièvres, Brétigny-sur-Orge, Breuillet, Briis-sous-Forges, Forges-les-Bains, Gif-sur-Yvette, Gometz-le- Châtel, Limours, Les Molières, Saint-Chéron, Saint-Maurice-Montcouronne, Sernaise, Les Ulis, Le Val-Saint-Germain, Vaugrinous.

10 days to report the claim

This recognition may entitle policyholders to coverage against the effects of natural disasters on property covered by the insurance contracts referred to in the Insurance Code, when the resulting direct material damage had as its determining cause the effect of this natural agent and that the usual measures to be taken to prevent this damage could not prevent their occurrence or could not be taken. In addition, if the insured is covered, the state of natural disaster observed may give rise to the aforementioned guarantee. Residents of the municipalities concerned have a maximum period of 10 days to report the incident to their insurance. They must draw up a precise list of damages suffered and property lost or damaged. When possible, they must also provide proof of the value and condition of the items damaged in the declaration. Within two months following the submission of the estimate of the damage suffered, or the publication of the order if this is later, a provision for compensation must be paid. As for full compensation, it is received after three months.

Towards a reform of the regime CatNat ?

At the end of October, after the floods, the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, announced an increase of 75 million euros in the fund Barniera public fund created in 1995 which allows individuals, communities and small businesses to finance work intended to reduce their vulnerability to natural disasters. The fund will therefore see its credits increased to 300 million euros. At the same time, the public authorities are considering a reform of the method of financing the natural disaster compensation scheme, says CatNat. In her information report no. 603 (2023-2024), filed on May 15, 2024 (compensation scheme for natural disasters), Christine Lavarde, senator for Hauts-de-Seine, special rapporteur of the finance committee responsible for monitoring of credits from the Ecology, sustainable development and mobility mission, issues an alert: “climate change threatens the compensation system for natural disasters. The cost of natural disaster losses is expected to increase by around 40% by 2050 for climate issues alone. The losses linked to drought will be 43 billion euros between 2020 and 2050, three times more than compared to the previous thirty years (13.8 billion euros). Marine submersions will also experience a very strong intensification by 2050.” But “the regime CatNat is out of breath. The droughts of 2022 led to the reduction of almost the entire equalization provision of the Central Reinsurance Fund. The decision to increase the rate of the surcharge from 12 to 20 percent on 1is January 2025 will not be enough to guarantee the balance of the regime in the long term,” the report indicates. The document makes 16 proposals intended to finance the scheme in the long term, to better protect policyholders and to strengthen public policy for the prevention of major natural risks.

Nine of these proposals appear in bill no. 612 (2023-2024) aimed at ensuring the balance of the natural disaster compensation regime, adopted at first reading by the Senate on October 29, 2024. Among these, Article 7 proposes to set up a new zero-interest loan, “eco-PTZ prevention”, which should allow individuals to implement risk prevention measures. According to the explanatory memorandum, “this loan will help households finance the costs of risk prevention work which, in certain cases, can prove to be particularly heavy”. Article 8 provides for making the granting of the energy transition bonus (MaPrimeRénov'), for housing most exposed to major natural risks, conditional on the completion of risk prevention work. Indeed, the energy renovation of housing highly exposed to the shrinkage-swelling of clay soils and for which no preventive measures are taken, leads to inefficient public spending, to the extent that these housing units will potentially disappear in the coming decades. “Stricter conditioning is necessary to ensure the consistency of the energy renovation policy and to encourage the carrying out of risk prevention work,” indicates the explanatory memorandum.