in the Pyrénées-Orientales, the risk of flooding is very real despite the drought

After the tragedy in Valencia in Spain, the question arises once again of the risk of flooding and the concreteization of soils. Despite prevention plans, we sometimes continue to build in sensitive areas. How to explain it? Report from Perpignan.

The Pyrénées-Orientales may have been facing chronic drought and irreversible climate change, it seems, for two years, but the risk of flooding is not any less significant. The tragedy of Valencia in Spain, in which several hundred people lost their lives, is there to remind us of this.

But have the Catalans fully understood this danger? And are they well prepared? Very close to the Perpignan prison, Marc Maillet, president of the environmental association Frene 66, takes us to the edge of a very green field. But on the other side of the road there will soon be a parking lot, according to him.totally illegal” because it is located in a flood expansion zone, therefore liable to flooding. An area unbuildable according to the city's risk prevention plan.

However, the regional transport authority has requested the construction of this car park, work on which has already started.

There is nothing posted and information taken, there is no permit issued. We are very worried because there is no reflection on these significant floods. There is at least one document, quite old, which should be updated in the face of risks that are now much higher than those envisaged at the time.

Marc Maillet, president of the Frene 66 association

Indeed, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department, the risk of flooding is very high, particularly in Salanque, where the Agly, Tech and Têt valleys meet. In July 2024, the Territorial Cohesion Scheme (more often referred to by the acronym Scot) for the Roussillon plain prohibited all construction in flood zones.

We could very well have a Valencia type phenomenon, especially since global warming is still a reality, we can no longer deny it. Therefore the intensity of weather phenomena and their frequency are likely to increase. This must be taken into account.

Jean-Paul Billès, president of the Territorial Cohesion Scheme for the Roussillon Plain

Already, the watercourses are under the surveillance of the State which, in the event of an alert, can warn the population by different means: “a message will appear on your phone and be superimposed on all your screens, even when your mobile is on silent or in airplane mode, to warn you of the authorities' instructions regarding the risk“, explains Ludovic Julia, chief of staff of the prefect of Pyrénées-Orientales.

ALSO READ – Documentary “Sometimes it rains”: devastating floods in the Pyrénées-Orientales in 1940, should we fear a similar event in the future?

For the record, the last major flood is not that long ago: it dates back to 2020. The equivalent of six months of rain fell in three days in the department.

Written with Marie Boscher, Julia Taurinya and Mathilde Boucher.