Hit by violent and sudden floods at the end of March, during the Easter weekend, the village of Montmorillon (Vienna) found a solution to alert the population without delay: the church bells will ring. This was the decision of the municipality after a series of setbacks.
“The waters of the Gartempe rose at an exceptional speed during the night. But the electric motor of the siren located on the roof of the town hall burned out... We found ourselves, elected officials and municipal police officers, going door to door playing two-tone music! People were sleeping, many did not respond,” summarizes Bernard Blanchet, the mayor of Montmorillon, happy to report “no deaths or injuries.”
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More than 600 homes were affected in a few hours in this town of 6,000 inhabitants. “Almost the entire city center,” recalls the elected official who saw the Gartempe rise by 25 to 30 centimeters per hour while
Vigicrues
– the public information service – announced “one meter of water less”. The reference flood dated from 1982.
“No one believed in such floods anymore,” explains Bernard Blanchet who now intends to reintroduce the culture of risk in Montmorillon. Scalded by the defective state siren, the mayor decided to reactivate in parallel two old municipal sirens located at an old school and the media library.
The bells of the Saint-Martial church, owned by the municipality, will also be used. “It’s effective, especially at night,” argues Bernard Blanchet, who claims to have warned the parish priest “as a courtesy.”