Caroline Baudry (special correspondent in Pas-de-Calais) / Photo credit: DENIS CHARLET / AFP 08:48, 07 January 2024

In Pas-de-Calais, the flood waters are slowly receding and residents continue to clean up. With one fear: the arrival of cold weather, which could weaken the homes affected by the floods, and be very difficult to live with for the inhabitants, who are often deprived of heating or even electricity.

A new awakening with our feet in the water in the Pas-de-Calais where the flood waters continue to recede and will require several days in some areas. This is the case in Arques, one of the 191 municipalities affected by the floods. In this town of 9,000 inhabitants, the soils are soaked. The situation remains difficult for the residents who are cleaning up tirelessly before the arrival of the cold spell this Sunday afternoon.

>> ALSO READ – "I can't see the end of it": in Pas-de-Calais, the flood is receding, residents continue to clean up

Céline is actively walking up the street covered in a thick layer of mud, a pair of boots in her hands that she has just found 500 meters from her parents' house. "You can see how exceptional the situation has been," the young woman said.

"There's nothing left to lose"

Her father brought her the garbage can, which had also been washed away, before taking up the squeegee and mop again. The race against time has begun. "We're going to hurry up because the cold is likely to weaken the houses. For example, we are afraid of cracks that are already in the house and that could grow, perhaps causing the house to crack even more. At the moment, the radiators don't work, so we'll see. My parents lost everything, so I think there's nothing left to lose," says Céline.

In the village hall, the water is barely drained. Séverine tidies up, in a hurry. It's a busy schedule. She has to fetch dry logs to fuel her fireplace. "We still had three steres in the garden, it's soaked and so we won't be able to use it this year, that's for sure. We're going to make do with what we can," she said before bursting into tears. "Excuse me, it's hard because it's redundant. It's been three times I've been flooded. I was already affected in 2002. We're fed up." She choks back tears, embarrassed when she thinks of her neighbors "who don't even have a house to warm anymore."