Flood and streets evacuated to Rennes, gusts up to 100 km/h, blocked SNCF lines … which must be remembered from the damage caused by the Herminia storm

A flood never seen for more than 40 years in Rennes, gusts at more than 100 km/h, disturbed rail and road traffic: the Herminia depression has crossed the west of the country on Sunday, causing significant damage.

The departments of Finistère, Côtes-d'Armor, the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, the Hautes-Pyrénées and the Rhône had been placed on Sunday morning on orange wind alert, but this vigilance was lifted on Sunday January 26 concerning the two Breton departments. In addition, four departments in western France (Calvados, Ille-et-Vilaine, Mayenne and Orne) were placed in raw vigilance, while Morbihan is the subject of a vigilance -flood.

The Breton capital has its feet in the water

In Rennes, the rise in the waters of the Ille canal led the town hall to take an evacuation decree from the evening on Saturday 25 January for four streets located near the Ille river, the water being over above The dike. The residents concerned, a hundred, mostly found refuge with relatives or in one of the three gymnasiums opened by the city.

A crisis cell was opened at the town hall. “We are today (Sunday) to values ​​which are higher than those that we had found in 1981, which was a reference year of an important flood”commented the mayor, Nathalie Appéré, during a press point on Sunday morning. “I've been living in the neighborhood for 40 years, I have never seen that”, testified at the AFP Bruno Lorandel, 47 years old. “Last week, it was limited to the channel and the road. I told myself that it was going to be the same thing, and in the end no info and that's it ”, he deplored.

Water will continue to go up, warns Vigicrues

Herminia succeeds the Eowyn storm, of exceptional violence across the Channel and especially in Ireland. Vigicrues has already alerted that the water would continue to go up throughout the region, where the floors are already saturated with water. “After a slight lull of precipitation, the new rains on Sunday will generate new reactions on many rivers. On the rivers already in flood, new increases are expected ”said the flood information service in its latest bulletin. For Rennes, “It is the equivalent of 15 days of precipitation” Who could still fall, said the mayor of the city.

The village of Vendée Globe closed to the public

Further south, in Sables d'Olonne, the village of Vendée Globe, installed since the departure of the world tour on November 10, was closed to the public. According to a source close to the race management, the bad conditions could force the skippers Benjamin Dutreux and Clarisse Crémer, expected on Sunday, to shelter in La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) or Lorient (Morbihan) once the line has been over the line from the Vendée city because entry into the port could be too dangerous. A 73-year-old British bucket, who sailed alone off the Gironde (southwest of France), has been missing since Saturday in the Atlantic.

SNCF disturbances

Depression Herminia has also resulted in normandy trains, where gusts up to 110 km/h are expected, the SNCF announced. Traffic, notably between Paris and Cherbourg and between Caen and Rennes, is expected to be disrupted on Sunday and Monday, warned the railway company. Ditto in Brittany, with the suspension of traffic on the lines between Quimper and Landerneau since 8:30 am this Sunday and between Rennes and Saint-Malo from 9 p.m.