In Pont-Réan, in the town of Guichen, 20 km south of Rennes, we live with the winter floods of La Vilaine. But this time, the sudden mounted of the waters of this Sunday, January 26, 2025 surprised everyone. “I have lived here since 1989 and I had never seen the water rising so quickly,” says Joël, manager of the Shadok bar, in the town. His night, he spent it in the bakery less than a hundred meters, flooded. “At 3 a.m., I was clearing the bakery with three colleagues from the area. We removed flour pallets and put the equipment on concrete blocks. »»
At the end of the morning this Sunday, the water is at the door of its bistro. “I know I'm going to have water inside, at least 30 centimeters given what has fallen and what will fall.” In the meantime, Joël moved his furniture in the bottom of his bistro. 100 meters from the Vilaine, a resident of an individual house makes him hundred steps in front of his property, worried. “I have water in my garden and wait for concrete blocks. The water may enter my garage and I have to protect my household appliances ”.
“It surprised everyone a bit”
Surprise, the municipality of Guichen was too. “We went on level 1 Friday afternoon,” explains Mathieu Chanel, deputy mayor of Guichen. But the vigicrues estimates changed this morning and were revised widely upwards, it surprised everyone a little. We didn't think it was going to climb so fast. At noon, the level of the Vilaine rose to 3.91 meters, well above the 3.38 meters of the 2019 flood. From level 1, the town went directly to level 3, and the backup plan communal has been activated. “The municipal reserve has been called, there are a hundred people on the ground to help the population. »»
In the town of Pont-Réan, everyone is activating. Transpalettes bring the concrete blocks to barricade the houses as much as possible. Too late for some, already flooded. “For us, it's screwed up,” explains a resident. We have 10 cm of water inside ”. A little higher, Steven Kermarrec, owner of an apartment, installs concrete blocks and a barrier in front of his door. “I added silicone around to make as airtight as possible. Fortunately there is mutual aid in the village, it is really warm in the heart. ”
-The peak expected Monday at 11 a.m.
Equipped with its boots, Julia Eoche, manager of the two restaurants of the Boël Moulin, a stone's throw from the towpath, walks in a decided step. “I will help a friend who lives here. Its two restaurants, the crêperie and the Marin Boël, are closed. “The road to access the restaurants is closed and the sailor Boël, we have water until mid-thigh.”
The peak of the flood is however not yet reached. “Vigicrues announces a peak above 4 meters at 11 a.m. Monday, it will be above the flood of 1999,” announces Mathieu Chanel. On January 6, 1999, water rose to 4.36 meters. Perhaps we will have to evacuate people during the day in anticipation. »At midday, only the family who lives on the bus parked in the car park for motorhomes was evacuated by firefighters… with the canoes of the Pont-Réan kayak club.
