A flood. A weather episode hit Doubs on Wednesday October 1st in the evening. In Devecey, near Besançon, a stream overflowed, causing the flooding of a neighborhood. The mayor is angry.
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Feet in the water. Wednesday evening, residents of the Vernes district were surprised by the rising waters. Flooded parking lot, 30 cm of water in some houses. The firefighters had to intervene. A couple and their baby, and another family of four had to be relocated.
Contacted this morning by France 3 Franche-Comté, Gérard Monnien, mayor of Devecey, has difficulty hiding his anger. “This is the fourth time since the start of the year that we have been flooded. For years, I have been sounding the alarm. All the rain from the slope of the Dame Blanche ends up in a rut, which swells and floods an entire neighborhood.”
Certainly, the severity of these floods has nothing to do with those that we have experienced in municipalities in the North of France after heavy rains, but the mayor is worried for his inhabitants.
Last night we found ourselves evacuating a couple in the street with their baby in a blanket.
Gérard Monnien, mayor of Devecey (Doubs)
The elected official claims to have been warning about the danger of this small river for 25 years. In May, he warned the services of the Doubs prefecture, and those of water management in Greater Besançon. “Last night the water rose, there wasn’t a lot of damage fortunately, but if the rains had lasted all night, I think the cars would have floated in the park.”
In terms of flood prevention, the prefect establishes a Flood Risk Management Plan (PGRI) for each major river basin. The concrete management of flood risk in a municipality implies a shared responsibility between the State, local authorities such as inter-municipalities and other actors in the territory, each having a specific role to play in the prevention and management of crises.
