Thirty-two departments were placed on orange alert this Wednesday, including 21 for “rain-flood” due to Storm Kirk.
Since Tuesday evening, the accumulations of rain have already been considerable, particularly in Noirmoutier, where the streets and roads are under water.
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Storms, thunderstorms, floods… the weather is getting out of control in France
To return home, to Noirmoutier-en-l’île, in Vendée, Dany must slalom between floating objects. Inside his house, 10 centimeters of water invaded every room. At the last minute, this retiree managed to save some things in her kitchen by raising the appliances, for example. “We moved everything up a bit. We still have a cool fridge and freezer, that’s all”she testifies in the report above. While putting things into perspective: “There was no death, it was just material damage”.
The networks were saturated. Nothing is predicted for rains of this intensity.
Fabien Gaborit, deputy mayor of Noirmoutier.
Following heavy rainfall this Wednesday afternoon, due to the passage of Storm Kirk, several streets found themselves under water. The farm of Patrick, a farmer on the island, was also flooded. He uses his tractor to evacuate the water. “We pump the basement where there are thirty centimeters of water. There is a boiler and a heat pump”he said, before admitting that he had never experienced such a situation. “I’ve been here for 25 years. There have been small floods, but like this, no. This is really a big blow”he assures.
In certain streets, completely underwater, cars try to pass as best they can. A mother and her son came to measure the level. “At 10:30 this morning, when I left, there was nothing. And in an hour and a quarter, there was already water,” blurted the young woman. Consequently, from the beginning of the afternoon, the town hall set up a crisis unit to help the affected residents. The rainy episode was intense. “We had the rainfall of a month which fell during the day. So more than 100 ml, we do not yet have the total calculation. The networks were saturated. Nothing is planned for rain of a such intensity. And so we had floods”, relates Fabien Gaborit, the deputy mayor.
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Collapsed facades, torn roofs… first major damage in France after the arrival of the depression Kirk
This Wednesday evening, the rain stopped in Noirmoutier. The low tidal coefficient should accelerate the decline.
