end of orange vigilance for snow, 200,000 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”. Friday midday, 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.

200,000 customers without electricity

Furthermore, on Friday at 7 a.m., around 200,000 customers remained without electricity, compared to 270,000 on Thursday. “The most affected regions are Normandy (69,000), Loire" rel="tag">Pays de la Loire (37,000), Centre-Val de Loire (22,000)”specifies the network manager Enedis. Around 8,000 homes were also affected in Corsica, not because of the snow but because of the wind.

Restrictions on road transport apply in certain areas on Friday, while SNCF traffic remains locally disrupted.

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. “I strongly recommend not taking your vehicle this [vendredi] morning in the Doubs, it’s dangerous”insisted Saadia Tamelikecht, chief of staff of the prefect, advising motorists not to venture onto the A36.

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 heavy goods vehicles 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. This was still the case on Friday in Mayenne, in Sarthe and in the five Normandy departments until midday.

Restrictions de circulation

The Paris region, the center and the east are also affected. Seine-et-Marne has suspended public and school transport. School lines and regular bus lines were suspended until midday in the departments of Loir-et-Cher and Eure-et-Loir. In Loiret, traffic on school lines was suspended until midday. In Haut-Rhin, school buses do not take place.

Traffic restrictions still affect heavy goods vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes, with traffic bans or reduced speeds of 20 km/h and overtaking bans in places. Sections of departmental roads, and even highways, have been closed.

In the Manche region, the Granville-Avranches axis was cut between Sartilly and Granville due to trucks being blocked after a heavy snow shower around 7 a.m. A section of the A28 was impassable in Orne, but the A10 has reopened near Orléans.

In Ile-de-France, the RN 118 is prohibited for vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes. They cannot overtake on the main roads in the region. For all vehicles, the speed is lowered by 20 km/h on the same axes.

The disruptions also affected rail traffic, as more than 400 trees fell on the tracks, according to an SCNF update at 1 p.m.

In Normandy, train traffic has resumed on the Paris-Rouen axis, but clearing work continues on the Rouen-Le Havre and Paris-Cherbourg tracks, which should be restored by the end of the afternoon .

Elsewhere, there are still disruptions in Ile-de-France on the L2 and U lines as well as in Limousin and in the Nantes region.