Since Wednesday, in the middle of the afternoon, snow has been falling in large flakes in the Hauts-de-France region, particularly in the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais, placed on orange alert until this Thursday noon. In addition to the inevitable power outages and traffic disruptions, the authorities have already counted two deaths and around fifty injured.
After a lull during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, the snowfall resumed this Thursday morning and the least we can say is that it is holding on to the ground. In the near suburbs of Lille, 20 Minutes was able to observe a nice layer of powder about fifteen centimeters long. So obviously, snow that sticks is synonymous with accidents.
“55 relative emergencies” in the region
The most serious occurred during the night, in the town of Marck, in Pas-de-Calais according to the prefecture. A car left the road and the three people on board were injured, two of them more seriously, but their vital prognoses were not in jeopardy. The Pas-de-Calais prefecture also notes “a few other minor material accidents”.
Of the two departments in orange vigilance, the prefect of Hauts-de-France welcomes a “rather moderate” toll in terms of injuries, counting on BFM at “around 55 relative emergencies”, i.e. 36 in the North, 16 in Pas-de-Calais and three in the rest of the region.
But there were also two tragedies. The first in Croix, near Lille, where a person died this Thursday morning after falling on a slippery sidewalk and violently hitting their head, the prefecture announced in a press release. The State representative also deplores the death of a homeless man, “probably because of the cold”, found in a makeshift shelter in Valenciennes.
-In Pas-de-Calais, Enedis reported this Thursday morning a thousand homes impacted by power outages, mainly in the areas of Arras, Béthune, Lens and Calais. Several hundred homes are also without electricity elsewhere in the region.
Read our articles on the theme of snow
In terms of transport, the traffic restrictions put in place by the authorities on Wednesday remain in force this Thursday. Interurban school transport is not running, the Lille metropolis bus network is disrupted on certain lines and train traffic, particularly TER trains, is also disrupted.
If the orange snow vigilance must be lifted this Thursday midday, another orange vigilance will follow from 10 p.m., for a “consequent risk” of ice this time, with temperatures between -4 and -6 during the night in the North -Pas-de-Calais and between -1 and -3 in the Somme. Be careful of slipping, especially on the secondary network which will not have been treated.
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