In Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, the only road that connects two parts of the village of Miquelon-Langlade was cut overnight from Wednesday to Thursday with the collapse of the road that runs through the isthmus under the effect of high tides , noted the local press.
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About thirty kilometers long, this road built on the fragile strip of land that connects the village of Miquelon and its 600 inhabitants, from its southern neighbor, Langlade, is completely cut off, washed away by the waves at kilometer point 16. La the only road link that allows you to travel the island of Miquelon from North to South being cut, residents of Langlade are forced to wait for low tide to travel and get supplies.
In an emergency, riprap planned to slow down erosion at another point on the road was redirected Thursday morning in an attempt to fill in the new bleeding.
The local authority has not given a date of reopening, and the authorities are seeking to maintain a precarious passage in order to allow possible medical evacuations that would be necessary for the temporary residents of the Langlade area.
The isthmus, this long strip of wild dunes, bordered on both sides by the Atlantic Ocean, is eroding more and more frequently, forcing the authorities to rock-filling operations.
In recent years, the village of Miquelon-Langlade has been heavily affected by the consequences of climate change.
Faced with the risk of submersion of the ocean, almost the entire town has been placed in a
non-building
“
red
”
zone
in the recent Coastal Risk Prevention Plan, and must rethink its future around a possible off-center reconstruction.
And the current episode of erosion of the isthmus makes the inhabitants fear to go back a century and a half, when the sea had succeeded in digging the dune ridge right through, separating Miquelon and Langlade into two distinct islands.