Two months after being devastated by the Mediterranean episode formed in the wake of storm Alex, the village of Tende sees its inhabitants leaving the region.
A real exodus, which the arrival of snow risks further intensifying: the inhabitants still present in the north of the Roya valley are all afraid of being cut off from the world again.
REPORTAGE
Sunken houses, bridges collapsed under the violence of the waves, unrecognizable villages, shattered lives ... Just two months ago, the Mediterranean episode formed in the wake of the storm Alex ravaged several valleys in the Alpes-Maritimes , in particular Vésubie - in the hinterland of Nice - and Roya, border with Italy.
Nine people were killed in the bad weather and nine others are missing.
Still in shock, some residents of these devastated areas decided to pack their bags.
This is particularly the case in Tende, a severely affected village in the Roya valley, where it is estimated that 20% of the population has already left or is leaving.
A real exodus.
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"We see a lot of moving trucks", confirms a resident met by Europe 1. While the top of the Roya valley had about 3,000 inhabitants before the Mediterranean episode of last October, hundreds of inhabitants have already left .
"I evacuated 60 houses," said Jean-Pierre Vassallo, the mayor of Tende.
"When I went to see them to tell them that they had to leave, it was terrible. And the wait is starting to be long for them, they still do not know what will be the final decision on where to live."
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The arrival of snow will worsen the phenomenon
Because the modification of the decree published in the Official Journal, so that a state of natural disaster also concerns landslides, is long overdue.
The victims can therefore not take the steps to be compensated.
So some see only one solution: put the key under the door.
This is what a shopkeeper from Tende, exhausted by these two long months, is about to do.
"Not 400 people left, but many more."
A phenomenon that risks getting even worse with the arrival of snow, which has already started to fall.
Everyone here fears a harsh winter and finding themselves once again cut off from the world.
The SNCF line has also been at a standstill since Friday and the track created temporarily to break the isolation of this village risks being impassable in bad weather.