"The fate persists and has perhaps not finished hitting us with again rain at the end of the day."
Virginia's despondency gave way to some resignation on Friday.
The day before, a torrent of muddy water invaded the garage of this resident of Thieux for the second time in barely 24 hours.
Just like her, the occupants of 120 homes in the village of 900 inhabitants saw the sky fall on their heads a second time.
Firefighters had to intervene in many places in the department.
Hendrik Delaire
Already hit this Wednesday evening by a sudden rise in water levels and a mudslide after violent thunderstorms and heavy rainfall, the victims again saw a deluge of rain falling on them this Thursday evening. In a day and a half, Wednesday evening, Thursday evening and Friday morning, three violent storms hit the north of Seine-et-Marne. Thursday evening, the firefighters carried out nearly a hundred interventions in the sectors of Thieux and Messy, more particularly, and also of Mitry-Mory, Meaux, Dammartin-en-Goële, Gressy, Villeparisis, Saint-Soupplets and Trilport . This Friday evening, the firefighters counted around fifty dewatering actions undertaken, mainly in the municipalities of Villeparisis, Mitry-Mory, Claye-Souilly, Chelles and Thieux.
In Thieux, “A hundred homes, located mainly in the streets of Saule-Madame and Closmé, which had been affected during the first flood on Wednesday evening, were again flooded as well as about twenty other houses which had been spared the first time.
Water streamed from the already waterlogged fields after the bad weather the day before.
Only one family has had to be relocated for the moment, ”explains Mayor Fabrice Cuypers (SE).
The damage is significant in the village of 900 inhabitants the day after the second flood which affected the town in less than 24 hours.
Hendrik Delaire
“The rain started to fall very violently around 8 pm.
It stopped quickly but the torrent continued to flow for 1 hour 30 minutes, ”says Wilson, a resident of the neighborhood.
Epicenter of these bad weather, Thieux is not the only municipality in the area to have been flooded again.
Other villages suffered the same fate, like Messy in particular.
Some do not dare to start a new cleaning
If solidarity is organized in the village of Thieux, where many inhabitants pump water in their cellars or scrape the mud in front of their houses, some of them, fatalists, do not dare to engage in operations of cleaning, fearing a new rise in water levels.
Read also Storms in Seine-et-Marne: in Thieux, neighbors stick together after the mudslide
“After two days in a row we are disgusted!
My son came to help me and starts cleaning again, but I don't feel like I'm sick of it!
»Laments Patrice, whose cellar was submerged by nearly three meters of water.
“The storm only lasted a quarter of an hour but after five minutes of rain, the water started to rush down the driveway down to our garage again.
The asphalt had been torn off Wednesday evening and the services had dumped gravel and sand on it on Thursday to make the driveway passable by car but everything was washed away again.
We lost a motorbike, ”adds Virginie, who has lived in the town for 14 years.
Thieux, Friday June 4, 2021. Powerless, the victims noted the extent of the damage.
Hendrik Delaire
“We had spent our day emptying the garages, cleaning and helping the neighbors, but we had to start all over again,” Wilfrid sighs disillusioned.
“It will become a habit!
», Quipped Christophe, a stricken inhabitant of rue Closmé.
"Above all, something should be done so that this does not happen again"
“The premises of our technical services had been cleaned this Thursday and they are again covered by mud.
At times with fatigue, we lose our morale a little but we try to hold on ”, recognizes the mayor Fabrice Cuypers, who received a visit from the president of the departmental council Patrick Septiers (UDI) who came to express his support and assure him of mobilization of departmental council services.
"Above all, something should be done so that this does not happen again in the future!"
»Asserts a disaster victim.
Hendrik Delaire
To deal with a possible new flood, a makeshift dike was erected and sandbags placed.
"Above all, something should be done so that this does not happen again in the future!"
», Asserts Ryan, a disaster victim.
In the meantime, many victims are scanning the sky and the weather reports on their phones, hoping that the elements do not break out again.
“New precipitation is expected this Friday evening.
We risk a new rise in water.
Never two without three, I just hope that the door of my garage will not be torn off, ”confides, fatalistic, Rénald.
