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Dried out soil in central France (archive picture): »Nothing is in my house anymore, except myself«
Photo: VERONIQUE POPINET / Hans Lucas via AFP
The increasing drought in recent years has created a whole new problem for the residents of the French town of Cour-Cheverny in the center of France.
The houses sag on the dried up clay floor and are riddled with cracks, as the newspaper "Le Parisien" reported on Thursday.
If only 30 houses in the 2900-inhabitant town were affected in 2015, there are now 270.
"Nothing is in my house anymore, except myself," the pensioner Mireille told the newspaper.
Windows could no longer be closed, the terrace arched and the foundations sagged.
"Every evening I hear the house making a noise, it scares me, but there is nothing I can do."
Trouble with insurance
Homeowners must provisionally secure their walls with supporting pillars.
They face renovation costs of up to 100,000 euros.
"We're not scientists, but we see the climate change from year to year," said a retired couple who had to reinforce the foundations of their 1979 house.
At that time, the drought was not an issue.
Those affected want to have the repairs reimbursed through their building insurance.
But the insurers are waiting for the official recognition of the drought in the municipality as a natural disaster - and meanwhile they are already increasing the premiums, as those affected told the newspaper.
According to the newspaper "La Nouvelle République", only four of 64 municipalities in Loir-et-Cher are officially recognized as drought regions, Cour-Cheverny is not one of them.
According to the report, this is causing resentment among residents.
Especially since those affected have another concern: the insurers refused to pay for damage even in recognized drought communities.
"On the grounds that the cracks existed before the drought was recognized as a natural disaster there," said one resident.
fek / wit / dpa
