The Charente reached a peak of 6.20 m on Monday in Saintes, one of the most affected municipalities in Charente-Maritime where the river levels, at their highest for nearly 30 years, should begin to decline from Tuesday , according to forecasts.
Read also: In Charente-Maritime, Saintes is experiencing a historic flood
After days of concern, “
the flood plateau
” was reached Monday morning around 6.20 m, levels confirming a new “
historic
”
flood
which exceeds that of 2007 (5.64 m), but without reaching the records of 1982 (6.84 m) and 1994 (6.67 m).
The fall in levels "
should begin
" on Tuesday according to Vigicrues.
In this town of 25,000 inhabitants, located downstream from the Charente, water has infiltrated certain streets that have become inaccessible except by boat and on wooden footbridges.
"
I am a professional firefighter, I lived through the flood of 1994. I did not expect that
", assured the mayor of Saintes, Bruno Drapron, during a trip by the Secretary of State in charge of Biodiversity, Bérangère Abba.
From the security headquarters at the Saintes fire station, Bérangère Abba, who had just met residents, traders and actors mobilized in the flooded city, confirmed the start of the process for the recognition of the state of natural disaster.
“
The elected officials present, (...) the mayor (of Saintes) will give me the requests for classification in a state of natural disaster.
It is the first step which triggers the meeting of the commission which will have to establish this state and will initiate the refunds and the questions of insurance, which must be as light as possible
”for the victims, she explained.
"
This flood was able to remain below the critical thresholds that we had known in 1994 and 1982, but these events are difficult to control,
" added the Secretary of State.
“
We can imagine many answers in terms of ecological engineering, development, maintenance of watercourses but nothing that unfortunately cannot avoid this type of exceptional event since global warming promises us more and more events like this
, ”she said.
The emergency services help the inhabitants to evacuate.
STEPHANE MAHE / REUTERS
More than 300 firefighters, gendarmes and police, reinforced by neighboring departments, volunteers from Civil Protection and the Red Cross were deployed in the field to help the 22 disaster-stricken municipalities of the department.
They carried out more than 600 interventions related to the meteorological event “
Justine
” and to the consecutive floods of the last days, according to the controller general Pascal Leprince, director of the SDIS of Charente-Maritime.
More than 400 people were evacuated by firefighters, but a total of “
800 to 900 people
” left their homes including those who had made their own arrangements, according to Pascal Leprince.
In the New Aquitaine region, largely affected by flooding in recent days, Charente-Maritime and Charente remained Monday the last departments in orange vigilance for floods.
In Charente, if "
the recession is
" started on the whole section "
, it is
" slowed down by precipitation ", estimates Vigicrues.
In addition to Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the floods also hit the Ile de France region, where Seine-et-Marne is Monday the only department still in orange vigilance according to Vigicrues, in particular the section between Condé-Sainte-Libiaire (Seine-et-et-Marne). -Marne) and Charenton-Le-Pont (Val-de-Marne), without however unduly worrying the authorities.
In the Val-de-Marne, to cope with the flood, the valve of the Joinville-Le-Pont and Saint-Maur canal was put into service to reduce the flow of the Marne, when it had not triggered during the 2018 floods, according to the Departmental Council.
