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In its latest weather forecast this Saturday October 19 at 4 p.m., Météo France left Gironde on orange vigilance and 23 other departments on yellow vigilance. At the same time, Antoine Armand, new Minister of the Economy, urged insurance companies to provide compensation for the victims.
Central-Eastern France (Rhône, Loire, Haute-Loire, Ardèche, Lozère and Alpes-Maritimes) was hit by floods of exceptional magnitude on Thursday. Last week, floods had already affected Eure-et-Loir and Seine-et-Marne in particular in the wake of the Kirk depression. Since then, the victims have tried as best they can to return to normal life and repair the damage.
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In Gironde, orange “flood” vigilance is maintained while 23 other departments remain on yellow vigilance according to the latest Météo France bulletin published this Saturday, October 19 at 4 p.m. Consequently, the meteorological site advises Girondins to avoid travel and not to go into basements. It also warns that “power cuts may occur” and that “disruptions may affect rail transport” in addition to “traffic” difficulties.
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From Normandy to the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a yellow “wave-submersion” vigilance is announced. According to the latest forecasts, the situation is unfortunately not expected to recover on Sunday October 20. Certain departments such as Manche could in turn go into yellow “flood” alert.
Politicians try to limit the damage
Antoine Armand, Minister of the Economy newly appointed by Michel Barnier, confirmed that “the recognition of a natural disaster” had been initiated with regard to the floods. He announced on
We are all torn by the images of the departments hit by bad weather this weekend.
As announced by @MichelBarniernatural disaster recognition is triggered. I have already mobilized the insurers so that the compensation…
— Antoine Armand (@antoine_armand)
Macif, for example, has already counted nearly 6,200 claims related to the bad weather in recent days. The insurer has announced that it is putting in place special measures to help its affected policyholders: extension of the claim reporting deadline extended to 30 days, support for rehousing for ten nights, psychological support, etc.
Furthermore, PS parliamentarians from Ardèche and Loire asked the government to spare local authorities, and in particular their departments, very affected by the floods, from the budget cuts envisaged in the 2025 finance bill. On a national scale, they could represent 5 billion euros.
“A contribution from oil and gas companies”
“Following the disaster experienced by the people of Ardèche, this drain, if it were to take place, will appear to be totally unfair,” wrote Hervé Saulignac, PS deputy for Ardèche, in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Michel Barnier cited by the AFP. According to the MP, the contribution from Ardèche should “be around 8 million euros”, he writes. However, “the damage, impossible to assess at this stage, will amount to several million euros for modest municipalities since 70% of them have fewer than 1,000 inhabitants.” He therefore asks to place Ardèche on the list of twenty non-contributing departments.
Two PS parliamentarians from the Loire followed in the footsteps of the Ardèche elected official. The Lyon branch of Greenpeace, for its part, called for a “contribution from oil and gas companies” to repair the damage, given their “responsibility” for climate change and the “exceptional profits they have recorded in recent years “.
If the TER Lyon-Saint-Étienne line, which is the busiest in France, remains closed for the moment, the A47 motorway which connects the two cities has reopened in time for vacation departures.
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