LIVE – Caetano Storm: 150,000 homes without electricity, end of orange vigilance

Motorists stuck on the highway, canceled trains, suspended school buses… Winter storm Caetano is moving east this Friday after causing chaos in transportation. Around 150,000 homes remain without electricity and many roads are very disrupted due to poor traffic conditions due to the Caetano storm, for which Météo-France however lifted orange vigilance on Friday at midday. Monitor developments.

Another 150,000 homes without electricity

The storm caused numerous power outages. “The electricity distribution network faced violent winds and (sticky) snowfall which caused trees or branches to fall on the cables,” reported the electricity network manager Enedis, which still counted 150,000 homes without electricity at 3:00 p.m.

The Normandy (60,000), Loire" rel="tag">Pays de la Loire (30,000) and Centre-Val de Loire (14,000) regions are the most affected. Enedis, which has installed a crisis unit, hopes to restore power to 90% of its customers within 48 hours. But as soon as Caetano left, the maritime prefecture of Cherbourg warned of the arrival of depression Bert, which could blow “on the North Sea coast” until the middle of the day on Saturday, with winds of force 7 at 8 (50 to 70 km/h) and “strong gusts”.

Five people in absolute emergency after an accident in Val-de-Marne involving a bus

Five people were in absolute emergency after a “serious” accident Thursday evening on a highway in Val-de-Marne involving a bus, four cars and a two-wheeler, we learned Friday from the prefecture and the firefighters of this department placed on orange alert due to the Caetano storm.

One of the victims in absolute emergency was “incarcerated” when emergency services arrived around 11:30 p.m. Thursday on the A6b motorway, near the town of Chevilly-Larue, in Val-de-Marne, where the incident took place. accident, a police source told AFP. This event is “directly linked to the degraded weather conditions following the passage of the Caetano storm”, added this police source.

According to firefighters and the Val-de-Marne prefecture contacted by AFP, 31 people were also slightly injured and were in “relative emergency”. In one of the photos published on X by the Paris firefighters, we see a white bus lying across the road, behind four heavily stopped cars, two of which were very damaged.

1 bus, 4 passenger vehicles and 1 two-wheeler are involved.

24 machines will be involved in the intervention. pic.twitter.com/HC7rEtXARt

— PompiersParis (@PompiersParis) https://twitter.com/PompiersParis/status/1859875692244238761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

During the emergency intervention, 24 engines and 84 firefighters were engaged, this source told AFP.

End of orange vigilance, 51 departments remain in yellow

51 departments, mainly in the northern half of France, remain on yellow alert due to the snowy episode caused by the Caetano storm, but none are any longer on orange alert, according to the latest update from Météo-France broadcast at midday . The meteorological institute, however, warns of a “risk of sliding phenomena due to refreezing from Normandy to Franche-Comté next night”.

Between 2,000 and 2,500 trucks blocked on the A36 motorway

“Around 2,000 to 2,500 heavy goods vehicles” are currently stored at rest areas and along the A36 motorway, but one lane of traffic remains clear for light vehicles, Saadia Tamelikecht, cabinet director, told AFP on Friday. of the prefect of Doubs. “I strongly recommend not taking your vehicle this morning in the Doubs, it is dangerous,” she added, advising motorists not to venture onto the A36. It was the plunge in temperatures between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. that trapped many truckers, added Saadia Tamelikecht.

Already on Thursday evening, dozens of trucks and cars were blocked on the same A36 near Montbéliard.

School transport interrupted in the west

School transport was interrupted Thursday in several western departments. This will still be the case on Friday in Mayenne and in the five Normandy departments until midday. Collective transport of children will also be prohibited in Sarthe.

The Paris region, the center and the East will also be affected. Seine-et-Marne will suspend public and school transport. School lines and regular bus lines will be suspended until midday in the departments of Loir-et-Cher and Eure-et-Loir. In Loiret, traffic on school lines will be suspended until midday. In Haut-Rhin, school buses will not take place.

Pay attention to closed sections of roads

The Prefect of Doubs also issued an order to suspend school transport from 5 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Montbéliard urban community. Traffic restrictions also affected heavy goods vehicles weighing 7.5 tonnes on Thursday, with speeds reduced by 20 km/h and overtaking bans in certain areas. Sections of departmental roads, and even highways, have been closed. This will still be the case in Sarthe on Friday and traffic will be prohibited on the A28 between Alençon and Le Mans in both directions.

In Ile-de-France, the RN 118 will be prohibited on Friday for vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes, they will not be able to overtake on the main axes of the region and for all vehicles, the speed is lowered by 20 km/h on the same axes.

Disruptions at SNCF

The disruptions also affected trains. Added to this was the social movement underway at the SNCF. This will still be the case on Friday, SNCF said, while trees fell on the tracks in places “in Normandy, Pays de la Loire, Nouvelle Aquitaine and Ile-de-France”. The trains will not run in Normandy until midday “time to pass the reconnaissance trains and carry out clearances and repairs”, indicates the SNCF.