end of orange vigilance for snow, 75,000 customers deprived of electricity

Accident « grave » in Val-de-Marne, truckers stuck on the highway, trains canceled, school buses suspended… If the winter storm Caetano “has now left the country”according to Météo-France on Friday November 22, it caused chaos in transport and the weather organization warned of a “risk of slippery phenomena due to refreezing from Normandy to Franche-Comté next night”. At midday on Friday, 51 departments, mainly in the northern half of France, remained on alert, but none was on orange alert anymore.

A motorcyclist is between life and death after an accident Thursday evening on a highway near L'Haÿ-les-Roses (Val-de-Marne) involving a Blablacar bus, four vehicles and a motorcycle, reported the prefecture police at Agence France-Presse (AFP) Friday midday. Four other people are in absolute emergency and 31 are injured, categorized as relative emergencies, adds this same source.

This accident is “directly linked to degraded weather conditions”said a police source. “It appeared from the initial findings that the driver of a light vehicle had lost control of his vehicle, forcing the driver of the coach to deviate from his path”details the police headquarters. The bus then overturned on the road and hit a car and the motorcyclist.

No electricity for 75,000 customers

The storm caused numerous power outages. “The electricity distribution network faced strong winds and (sticky) snowfall which caused trees or branches to fall on the cables »reported the electricity network manager, Enedis.

The latter reports “75,000 customers without power”but three-quarters of customers who had been deprived of electricity (270,000) were restored. “The wind plus snow weather episode has ended, but the snow is still present this evening, making interventions difficult”notes Enedis. The Normandy (30,000), Loire" rel="tag">Pays de la Loire (16,000) and Centre-Val de Loire (5,000) regions are the most affected. Enedis hopes to restore power to 95% of its customers by Saturday evening; the others, between now and Sunday evening.

But as soon as Caetano left, the maritime prefecture of Cherbourg warned of the arrival of the Bert depression, which could blow “on the Channel-North Sea coast” until midday Saturday, with winds force 7 to 8 (50 to 70 km/h) and “strong gusts”.

In Franche-Comté, 2,000 to 2,500 heavy goods vehicles are blocked on the A36 motorway (Beaune-Mulhouse), stopped at rest areas or on the roadway, even if a lane has been cleared to allow cars to circulate.

Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhône (APRR) announced that traffic was gradually resuming on the A36, around 5:30 p.m.

Rail traffic disrupted

It was the plunge in temperatures between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. that trapped many truck drivers. Traffic jams also in Orne on the A28 due to trucks stuck on a slope due to icy conditions. Heavy goods vehicles were circulating despite the prefectural ban order, noted the prefecture which warned: the truck drivers at fault will be fined 135 euros.

School transport was interrupted Thursday in several western departments, but also in the Paris region, in the center and east of France.

The disruptions also affected rail traffic, as more than 400 trees fell on the tracks, according to an SCNF update at 1 p.m. A train on the Paris-Granville line was blocked at Argentan station (Orne) on Thursday evening. The 162 passengers had to sleep in a gymnasium before being transported to their destination by coach, according to the prefecture.

Furthermore, Easyjet confirmed that one of its aircraft, which was due to leave Basel-Mulhouse airport on Thursday around 5 p.m., had only finally taken off on Friday at 11 a.m. for Toulouse, a delay of eighteen hours. during which the travelers remained stuck on board the aircraft for a long time. “Hotel availability in Basel was unfortunately limited, so we informed guests who had to make their own arrangements that they would be refunded.”the airline said.