A flood never seen for more than 40 years in Rennes, gusts of more than 100 km/h, rail and road traffic disrupted: the Herminia depression crossed the west of the country on Sunday, causing significant damage.
The departments of Finistère, Côtes-d’Armor, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées and Rhône had been placed on orange wind alert on Sunday morning, but this vigilance was lifted on Sunday January 26 concerning the two Breton departments. In addition, four departments in the west of France (Calvados, Ille-et-Vilaine, Mayenne and Orne) have been placed on flood alert, while Morbihan is subject to rain alert. -flood.
The Breton capital has its feet in the water
In Rennes, the rising waters of the Ille canal led the town hall to issue an evacuation order on Saturday January 25 in the evening for four streets located near the Ille river, the water having passed above the dike. The residents concerned, around a hundred, have mostly found refuge with relatives or in one of the three gymnasiums opened by the city.
A crisis unit was opened at the town hall. “Today (Sunday) we are at values which are higher than those we observed in 1981, which was a reference year for a significant flood”commented the mayor, Nathalie Appéré, during a press briefing on Sunday morning. “I’ve lived in the neighborhood for 40 years, I’ve never seen this,” Bruno Lorandel, 47, told AFP. “Last week, it was limited at the canal and road level. I told myself that it was going to be the same thing, and in the end no information and that’s it”, he lamented.
The water will continue to rise, warns Vigicrues
Herminia follows storm Éowyn, which was exceptionally violent across the Channel and particularly in Ireland. Vigicrues has already warned that the water will continue to rise throughout the region, where the soil is already saturated with water. “After a slight lull in precipitation, the new rains this Sunday will generate new reactions on many rivers. On rivers already in flood, further increases are expected”indicated the flood information service in its latest bulletin. For Rennes, “it’s the equivalent of 15 days of precipitation” which could still fall, indicated the mayor of the city.
The Vendée Globe village closed to the public
Further south, in Les Sables d’Olonne, the Vendée Globe village, established since the start of the round-the-world sailing race on November 10, was closed to the public. According to a source close to the race management, the poor conditions could force the skippers Benjamin Dutreux and Clarisse Crémer, expected on Sunday, to take shelter in La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) or Lorient (Morbihan) once the line has passed offshore. from the Vendée city because entering the port could be too dangerous. A 73-year-old British boater, who was sailing alone off the coast of Gironde (southwest of France), has been missing since Saturday in the Atlantic.
-Disruptions at SNCF
The Herminia depression also led to train cancellations in Normandy, where gusts of up to 110 km/h are expected, SNCF announced. Traffic, particularly between Paris and Cherbourg and between Caen and Rennes, should be disrupted on Sunday and Monday, the railway company warned. Ditto in Brittany, with the suspension of traffic on the lines between Quimper and Landerneau since 8:30 a.m. this Sunday and between Rennes and Saint-Malo from 9 p.m.
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