a Senate report warns of the country’s unpreparedness for floods

With the arrival of autumn, residents of areas recently affected by flooding fear further bad weather with dramatic consequences. Because this risk is not ready to disappear: more than one in four French people are affected. A Senate report, published this week, warns of the country’s unpreparedness for floods which will become more and more frequent due to climate change.

“We can make houses on stilts”

In areas that have suffered repeated floods, waterways are poorly maintained and housing is poorly adapted, rebuilt identically after a flood when they should be raised. This is the observation made by Jean-Yves Roux, socialist senator from Alpes-de Haute-Provence, co-author of the report. “On the maintenance of waterways, we are afraid of doing things wrong so it absolutely must be simple things, we can make houses on stilts, we have solutions, it must be shared by all actors,” he says.

“We fear that insurance companies will no longer want to insure houses”

Geoffray Moreau, affected twice last year in Blendecques in Pas-de-Calais, regrets that the development of his territory takes so long. “In our town, there are still banks to be rebuilt, there are waterways clogged with waste… The procedures are too long. This winter, we fear that insurance companies will no longer want to insure houses with Blendecques. Some victims have had their insurance canceled, it’s terrible,” he laments.

The senators also deplore a lack of resources for the intervention of civil security forces. In Pas-de-Calais, last year, pumps were borrowed from Slovakia to evacuate the water.