This is a documentary that some municipalities and the Walloon Region might have done well without. After the rainas its title indicates, returns to the scene of the floods of summer 2021. The film is already on a few screens in Brussels and Wallonia, before a wider release on June 5.
The two Verviers directors Quentin Noirfalisse and Jérémy Parotte immediately grabbed their camera in the summer of 2021. Nine months later, they captured the administrative troubles of the victims, following, among others, Maria Alonso. A victim of the floods herself, she helps residents of her neighborhood with their efforts. She then worked for the Walloon Network to Combat Poverty (and has since campaigned for the PTB).
Taking a step back, Quentin Noirfalisse and Jérémy Parotte then return to the causes with actors in the field who know the context well. Hydrologist Audrey Douinot highlights how the monoculture of spruce trees in Walloon forests, since the 1970s and 1980s, has had perverse effects on soil permeability and massive runoff in the event of abundant rain.
Floods in Wallonia: “We have to face the facts, it will never happen again”
House in red zone
A year and a half later, some of the Verviers residents of the river discovered that their house was now in the red zone, therefore liable to flooding, and therefore not covered by insurance. Some goods are no longer worth anything. This shock adds to the barely digested trauma of the floods. Some are still left to their own devices, facing never-ending renovation work.
Paola Vigano, town planner commissioned by the Walloon Region to carry out a study on regional planning, questions policies in this area with regard to extreme climatic events which are likely to recur. While the Walloon Region is slow to follow up on their recommendations, the University of Liège and Paola Vigano’s design office launched the Vesdre Laboratory in February, a cycle of citizen reflection. For Paola Vigano, we cannot ignore the social impact of flooding and land redevelopment. “There is no resilience without solidarity, estimates the town planner. And we will have to learn to live with risk”… The fear of those on the ground is that, once the June 9 elections have passed, the studies and recommendations will remain a dead letter… until the next climatic event.
After the rain Documentary Of Quentin Noirfalisse and Jérémy Parotte 1h15 Released in theaters on June 5. Preview on 3/06 at 8 p.m. at Caméo (Namur)
