In La Terrasse-sur-Dorlay, it was desolation and anger which prevailed this Friday morning in the hamlet of Moulin Pinte, where the inhabitants were strongly impacted by the floods. “This is where the worst of the damage is,” says Mayor Christian Duccheshi.
Stone walls collapsed, giving free rein to the river which invaded the houses. A home was heavily hit with more than 80 cm in the house.
“We are angry because we had no weather alert. In a few minutes, the Dorlay came out of its bed and invaded everything.” The residents had to be evacuated. A mother was trapped in her home, firefighters rescued her. In all, more than 40 people were evacuated by firefighters this Thursday.
“We don’t understand”
“The Dorlay dam was full to bursting. We don’t understand why those who manage it didn’t empty it beforehand. They know very well that in the fall there are heavy rains. If they had drained it little by little, we would never have gotten to this point,” explains Frédéric, whose house was flooded.
“Not to mention that Saint-Étienne Métropole, which manages the banks, never comes to clean the river or clean the surroundings, so the bed is narrowed. During the floods of 2008, money was released to carry out safety work, we saw nothing here,” continues his wife.
Friday morning, the firefighters were still there to pump the water. “We have a car and two motorcycles affected. The insurance will give us five days of car rental and five nights in hotels, but after that, what are we going to do?”
That night, they found refuge in a hotel in Saint-Chamond. Since then, the couple has been trying to dry out their home and due to a lack of electricity, they have been able to count on help from the neighborhood.
Residents are waiting for answers and strong actions so that such a disaster never happens again.
