It is 5 p.m., Saturday, January 25 in the evening, and the water level rises dangerously in Rennes. The city decides to activate its backup plan. A crisis cell is mounted. In the evening, several streets are evacuated in the Motte-Brûlon district, at the height of rue Jean Claude Camors and the aisles Doctor Roger Maruel, Camille Godet and Alphonse Jarry. Difficulties linked to floods are also reported on the so-called “median” nasty, with floods observed in Apigné and around the Saint-Cyr park. Two emergency reception centers are open, then a third Sunday, with the support of the Red Cross to shelter the victims.
During the night from Saturday to Sunday, a hundred houses in total are evacuated. The very large majority of the inhabitants concerned are reluctant on their own, among relatives or in the family. 26 people still find refuge in the reception center established on rue Constant-Véron near the horizons.
“The water is mounted quickly”
Sunday morning, there are still 17 to be there. In a part of the room, camp beds are installed. Marc 19, sitting on his, takes his pain in patience: “I arrived on Saturday and I came from Lyon. I had decided to sleep at the youth hostel at the water’s edge (at the level of the Saint-Martin editor’s note). There was already a little water. The police passed to ask the people present to leave because the water rose. ”
Julien and Dorian, both homeless, were installed under a bridge near the Saint-Martin lock. “The lock began to overflow and the water rose quickly. We just had time to take our things and to clear around 2 p.m. Our mattresses stayed there. Afterwards, it was the police who passed to tell us to go to the gymnasium where we arrived around 9 p.m. We sleep warm. We see the positive side. »»
-“I came back to save what can be”
In the Saint-Martin district, water has infiltrated the street where Christophe has lived for 10 years. “I had not seen such an important flood. The water usually arrives lower in the street, by the canal, but not so far. Saturday evening, the neighbors warned me of clearing the cars because the water rose dangerously. Then, in the night, the police passed with the sirens by warning by loudspeaker who had to be evacuated. We live upstairs with my wife and children but we preferred to go to my parents-in-law because we thought there would be no more electricity. I came back to enhance the matters of the garage and save what can be because the water goes up from the ground. »»
The water is not about to descend. In view of the precipitation fallen on Sunday, the levels should remain high at least until Monday. At the Saint-Martin lock, it rose up to 1.39 m. Unheard of since 1981. And at a time when we write these lines, Vigicrues does not exclude that this previous record is reached or even exceeded. “The peak of flood is not yet reached,” warns, this Sunday at 6 p.m., the mayor of Rennes.
