He has his arm in a sling following a surgical operation on his hand.
This Sunday afternoon, Jean-Christophe, a 40-year-old plumber, is waiting at the emergency reception center set up in Terminal 1 at Nice airport.
It is here that 210 disaster-stricken or sick people, living in the valleys affected by storm Alex, have been transported by helicopter since Saturday.
For him, the air transfer took place on Sunday morning.
“As I needed care, I was a priority, I am now waiting for my partner and my son to join me.
It's hard to have left them, ”he confides.
Everything changed on Friday in a few hours.
The man arrives, carefree, in the afternoon by road to Saint-Martin-Vésubie.
“It was raining but no more than that, it was okay.
I was at home when at 5.30 p.m. the gendarmes knocked on the door, he says.
It was for me to welcome the wife of Warrant Officer Morales
(Editor's note: missing then found the next day safe and sound).
Outside, the situation is getting worse in the region.
The soldiers come back knocking on the door.
This time, it is to ask him to accommodate four other people who had to leave their home.
"I went out and, there, the road left not far from me"
Everything is going more or less well.
But, around 8 p.m., the crisis took a further step.
“We were asked in our turn to evacuate,” said Jean-Christophe.
Everyone left but I wanted to stay to rest.
" Bad choice.
A few tens of meters away, the gendarmerie barracks, in front of its small building, was then washed away by the waters of the river.
It is around 8:30 p.m.
The 40-year-old will live a few difficult minutes: “I saw her live to bed, it made my home vibrate.
It was dark, I had no visibility, I went out, a gendarme told me to follow him quickly and, there, the road left not far from me.
"
VIDEO. Floods in the South-East: spectacular damage and many missing
The plumber manages to take refuge in his car.
He spent the night there, "alone, without a telephone" when he heard the waters rumbling.
The hours go by as best they can.
Saturday morning, when he wakes up, a panorama of desolation surrounds him.
The day is barely rising.
He films with his smartphone.
"Noting the damage, I thought I was still sleeping," he quips.
Quickly, he was taken care of in a chalet in the town where he found his partner and his 13-year-old child.
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Why storm Alex is exceptional
Its housing, which was probably weakened by the instability of the land, is currently not habitable.
"I was forbidden to go there but I discreetly took advantage of a moment to quickly recover all our papers".
Transferred to Nice, Jean-Christophe was still waiting for his family on Sunday at the end of the day.
Blame it on the return of bad weather which interrupted the helicopter rotations.
