That evening, Gwendoline will remember it all her life. “The water came into the house so quickly, we were stormed,” explains this mother of four children aged 22 months to 13 years. Like 6,000 homes in Pas-de-Calais, on November 6, 2023, his house located in Fauquembergues found itself flooded following heavy rainfall which caused the rivers to overflow.
“We had not prepared for this eventuality”
“My partner took our children on his back one by one to take them to safety up high a little further down the street: the water was up to their waists, says Gwendoline. It was a bit of a panic. Chloé, my 6-year-old daughter, told me: “I’m going to die.” »
How did they let themselves be surprised? “We saw on a Facebook group that the town next door was flooded, but it was already too late,” replies the thirty-year-old. Gwendoline no longer remembers if she received an alert message from the prefecture to tell her that the Aa river had gone into red Vigicrues alert. And the family, who moved into the town in April 2022, did not know that their rental was in a flood zone. “The owner had not informed us, we had not prepared for this eventuality,” she says.
Nearly six months later, Gwendoline “look at the Vigicrues site again”. “I’m afraid it will start again, it’s very stressful,” she emphasizes. While his family has lost everything and is living in a mobile home because they have not been able to find housing, “We were not offered any psychological support”she laments.
56% of French people do not have the right reflexes in the event of an extreme event
Like Gwendoline, “44 million French people” – two thirds of the population – are “ exposed to flood risk and ground movements”, indicates the Red Cross in a report on society’s resilience to climate risks, published Thursday April 25. While the extreme heat, drought, forest fires and floods that we have experienced in recent years in Europe will get worse, warns the European Environment Agency, the French are not sufficiently prepared, observes the Red Cross in its report.
The proof: according to an OpinionWay survey carried out as part of the report, in the event of an imminent extreme weather event, more than half of those questioned (56%) believe they will have to travel to pick up their loved ones or to return home. However, this “is not the right reaction, because it directly exposes populations to the disaster, in addition to creating influxes on the road networks, slowing down relief efforts”, indicates the Red Cross. Only 37% of French people have the right reflex by staying safe and listening to the news.
Another example: only 11% of respondents have an emergency bag ready in the event of an evacuation to put in it what they need to hydrate, eat, take care of, protect themselves and signal themselves, for a period of 24 to 48 hours. To better prepare, we must systematize the annual National Exercise Day, October 13, which consists of testing crisis scenarios on the ground by involving citizens, judges the Red Cross.
Better identify elderly and vulnerable people
If the association finds that “public authorities have made progress in their organization in the face of risks”emergency response “does not sufficiently take into account the real needs of the populations”. Gold, “providing material support with basic necessities and ensuring psychological support to victims are essential to mitigate the shock of climate crises”, judges the association. This is why she wants “platforms” logistical resources ready to be deployed (vehicles, radio, coverage, water, etc.) are distributed throughout the territory.
Another point for improvement according to the Red Cross: while 17% of those over 70 do not have a cell phone, the elderly are the most affected by natural disasters along with the homeless, particularly because some do not receive not alert messages from state services. To remedy this, the association recommends improving municipal registers of vulnerable people to facilitate their identification. The Red Cross is calling for the creation of a severe heat plan with measures to protect the most vulnerable during heatwaves, like the severe cold plan put in place in winter.
Finally, in terms of human resources, the Red Cross wants to create a corps of volunteers trained for emergencies and ready to be deployed in the event of an extreme weather event. To do this, she is calling for a new legal framework to facilitate the provision of volunteers to relief associations by their employer.
