Bastia
Trees lying on the bungalows of the campsites, boats in distress offshore and above all a heavy human toll.
The storm that hit Corsica on Thursday, early in the morning, leaves an island in mourning.
Five dead, at least twenty people injured, including four in absolute emergency.
A balance sheet revised downwards after the announcement of a sixth victim by Gérald Darmanin, on his arrival in Corsica.
A blackboard that could still evolve, Thursday night.
Among the victims, a fisherman in Girolata, a small marina in Corse-du-Sud, a kayaker in Erbalunga, a tourist village in Cap Corse, but also a 46-year-old man, killed by a tree falling on his bungalow. in a campsite in Calvi.
In the South, a 13-year-old girl suffered the same fate, crushed by a tree, as did a 72-year-old woman, fatally affected by the fall from the roof of a straw hut.
“I give all my support to the Corsicans, who faced violent storms, with gusts of wind at more than 200 km / h, reacted,
Gérald Darmanin
, the Minister of the Interior, on Twitter.
(…) Substantial resources have been committed.
I'll be there this afternoon."
The minister went to the Le Sagone campsite, which deplores the death of the 13-year-old teenager resident of the site, located in the town which bears the same name in Corse-du-Sud.
On Thursday evening, the President of the Republic also chaired the interministerial crisis unit, from Fort Brégançon.
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The resident of Place Beauveau was then to go to Calvi, this Friday, to visit the La Pinède campsite, which deplores one death and one serious injury: a 23-year-old Italian woman, victim of a falling tree, whose vital prognosis is engaged.
The weather phenomenon which reached Corsica in the early morning was of rare intensity
.
If, initially, the services of the regional prefecture placed the island on yellow vigilance for storms, rain and flooding, an episode nicknamed "hydro-storm", the alert turned orange at the last moment, facing the violence of the event, taking the inhabitants of the island by surprise.
Météo-France reports violent gusts measured at 131 km/h in Ajaccio, 224 km/h in Marignana, 197 km/h in Calvi, 188 km/h in Bocognano, 205 km/h in L'Île-Rousse, 123 km/h at Poretta airport.
125 operations at sea
Due to the strong gusts of wind, the emergency services were unable to engage resources before mid-morning.
Six helicopters from the navy, the gendarmerie, civil security and the air force as well as a customs plane are mobilized to patrol the coastline.
At the beginning of the afternoon, all the people who contacted the rescue services at sea had been taken care of.
Thus, 125 operations were carried out in particular at sea and the emergency services counted ten minor injuries.
EDF specifies that
“nearly 45,000 customers were without electricity on Thursday morning.
All of the resources committed made it possible to restore more than 80% of the clients concerned”.
According to the operator,
“The damage is significant and the conditions for intervention remain difficult.
At this time, 11,000 customers are still affected by power cuts, mainly north of the Ajaccio / Cervione axis.
In total, more than 100 EDF agents and service providers are already engaged in the field to restore the customers affected by these bad weather.
The ground teams are supported by three helicopters to speed up fault location.
The situation remains unstable, Météo-France announcing a new intense stormy episode in the evening.
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Hail, uprooted trees, stationary trains... images of violent storms in the Saint-Etienne region
Météo-France announced, in fact, a violent storm Thursday evening, but also in the night from Thursday to Friday.
This time, the region was placed on orange alert:
“Storms formed at sea will affect a large part of the western Corsica coast throughout the night from Thursday to Friday.
Under these storms, we expect generalized electrical activity, strong rainfall intensities of 40 to 60 mm in less than an hour, hail, strong gusts of wind, from 80 to 100 km / h, sometimes turbulent "
and
" waterspouts can be observed on the coastal fringe”,
specifies the agency.
Questioned by BFMTV, Gilles Simeoni, president of the Collectivity of Corsica, indicated, Thursday in the afternoon,
"to prepare for the worst"
:
"That is to say that it is necessary to organize, perhaps to plan evacuate a certain number of campsites, put the teams on alert on the roads and secure the banks of the rivers.”
The regional prefect has issued an order to evacuate campsites in Corse-du-Sud.
A similar decision was taken in Haute-Corse.
Tens of thousands of people had to be rehoused.
