“People who have lived here for more than 40 years tell me that they have never seen so much water, it’s unprecedented ! It went up quite high. And the roads were a real torrent. We had three houses flooded and numerous yards or garages.” says Patrick Gosnet, mayor of Saint-Vincent-des-Prés in northern Sarthe. The rain of recent days followed by storms that occurred on Tuesday, May 21, caused flooding in this town, but also in other places in the department.
Mudslides
In Marigné-Laillé, flooding, but also mudslides were observed. The town center will have to be cleaned, as mayor Dominique Covemaeker indicates on his Facebook page. Municipal officials will also have to repair the damage. In Saint-Cosme-en-Vairais, where firefighters intervened on different occasions, several houses were flooded. “Solidarity was organized to help the victims“, explains the municipality on his social networks. In Bazouges Cré sur Loirthe waste collection scheduled for this Thursday risks being disrupted, due to bad weather and flooding, warns the community of communes.
More roads blocked
This Wednesday, May 22, the Sarthe department indicates that several roads are still blocked, or partially flooded. Between Arnage and Moncé-en-Belin, the departmental road 212 bis is still closed, one diversion is put in place. The RD 284, in Marigné-Laillé, is also impassable at the moment.
In some places, the water has receded, but portions of the roads remain partially flooded. This is the case for departmental road 134 in Vion, and RD 37 in Bazouges Cré sur Loir. The latest news on road conditions can be found on the Department website.
Event canceled
Due to heavy rain, the piano concert scheduled for this Friday, May 24 in the Bercé forest has been postponed to Saturday, June 8 at 5 p.m. “The weather conditions are catastrophic, the forecasts are uncertain and the site is impassable to place a piano on it“, explain the organizers. Sarthe pianist Antoine Decrop, who opened for Michel Sardou’s last tour, was to perform in the Bercé forest, to celebrate the renewal of the “Forêt d’exception” label.
