“We are being told about the flood of the century,” explains Christophe De Clerck (SE), the mayor of Pommeuse, crossed by the Grand Morin river. His town has already been flooded three times since the start of the year. The last time was September 27. This is not the only city in this case here. “I make sandbags available to residents. I am preparing to welcome people this night from Wednesday to Thursday in the village hall. I hope that doesn’t happen. » And the mayor concluded: “It’s war. »
Météo France placed the department of Seine-et-Marne on orange rain-flood alert this Wednesday morning. Ex-Hurricane Kirk transformed into a storm will reach the department in the middle of the afternoon until the middle of next night.
In its forecasts, the meteorological organization predicts 80 cm of rain, or 80 liters of water per square meter. However, the land is already overcrowded and will not be able to absorb this surplus. And the water level was already high.
“The territory is located in the heart of the intense rain episode”
At the Mixed Syndicate for Water Development and Management of the Two Morins (SMAGE), the organization responsible for flood prevention in the Grand Morin valley, a “rain peak at 10 p.m.” was forecast. SMAGE observed that “the territory is located in the heart of the intense rain episode”. Whereas until recently, the heart of the storm was expected to pass a little south of the department. Other bad news which follows from the previous one, the precipitation forecasts are “more alarmist” than even twelve hours ago.
For several days, SMAGE has mandated several companies to remove “jams”, these obstacles (often tree trunks) which obstruct the flow of water in the river. The union also took charge of opening the floodgates wherever possible, starting Monday. On the SMAGE side, we explain that “the opening of works is the responsibility of private or public owners such as municipalities”. Finally, the union is also responsible for sending very precise and regularly updated weather reports to the municipalities, asking them to relay them to residents.
For his part, the prefect of Seine-et-Marne activated the departmental operational center (COD) this Wednesday morning. It is a “crisis management tool which brings together all civil security actors, the SDIS (firefighters), the police and the gendarmerie, state services and representatives of communities, including the departmental council,” explains the prefecture. The prefect also issued an order to prohibit outdoor demonstrations until Friday noon. The same goes for public access to wooded areas and forest areas. Finally, the rental and navigation of canoes, pointers and any other similar craft is prohibited until midnight on October 12.
The prefecture invites companies and administrations to facilitate the implementation of teleworking for their employees, but also to limit or postpone travel and deliveries. “The roads risk being quickly saturated, to avoid congestion and facilitate the travel of emergency and rescue services, it is strongly recommended to limit travel from this afternoon and next night, specifies- her in a press release. SNCF plans to suspend traffic on line P between Marles-en-Brie and Coulommiers from 3 p.m. »
On the Vigie Crues government site, the Grand Morin was already in orange this Wednesday morning and the Marne in yellow. “At the moment there is nothing to report in the sector,” noted a member of the State services on site. I think it will be the most difficult Thursday morning with the arrival of the flood wave on the Grand Morin. »
