Météo France kept the departments of Seine-Maritime and Eure on orange flood alert on Friday January 10. The Epte burst its banks yesterday in Gournay-en-Bray, and it is the turn of the town of Gisors to suffer today the attacks of this tributary of the Seine. Flooding is expected in the coming hours, but the streets are already covered with 30 cm of water.
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The water surged like a torrent this Friday, January 10 in the morning in the streets of Gisors, in Eure. The Epte, a tributary of the Seine which has its source in Seine-Maritime in the country of Bray, and joins the river near Giverny in the Eure, began to flood the streets of the town this morning.
The day before, the town of Gournay-en-Bray in Seine-Maritime found itself under water after the river burst its banks. This Friday, it is the turn of the town of Gisors, located further upstream, to fear the rising waters of the Epte.
Residents fear the peak of the flood in Gisors (27)
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© Ftv
“Be careful! Flooded road”, indicate the signs. At the start of the morning, five streets in the town were already closed to traffic due to flooding. The water reached 20 to 30 centimeters in places, notably on Capville Street, the city’s busiest. Some businesses have already been affected.
Municipal officers distributed sandbags to traders to protect their property. However, no homes are impacted in this area, but vigilance remains essential.
Traders board up their shops in the face of rising waters
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© Ftv
Around a hundred city agents have also been working since this morning to set up diversions and avoid traffic on flooded streets.
Faced with the danger of a flood which promises to be unprecedented, the mayor of the town, José Cerqueira, organized a crisis unit this morning at 9 a.m., with the services of the prefecture. This flood, whose peak is expected at 2 p.m., turns out to be more significant than that of 1999. “I activated the municipal safeguard plan yesterday morning. We were on alert all day, we knew it was going to pick up during the night. I alerted all my departments, the agents were on deck all night, and the water arrived around 4 a.m. It went up very quickly, and much more than expected. Some businesses were unfortunately flooded, but as I speak to you, no evacuation of homes is planned.” explains José Ceiqueira, the mayor of Gisors.
A school in the city center was still closed today as a precaution.
The decline is not expected before the end of the afternoon, or the middle of the night.
