President Emmanuel Macron arrives in Breil-sur-Roya on Wednesday, October 7, 2020, in an air force helicopter -

Daniel Cole / AP / SIPA

  • Sébastien Olharan asks for military land and air resources for the Roya valley after the passage of storm Alex.

  • It highlights 4,000 residents deprived of road access as winter approaches.

  • The young elected official draws a parallel with the post-WWII reconstruction.

He calls for the return of the army to help Roya recover from the terrible consequences of Storm Alex.

Sunday, Sébastien Olharan, mayor of Breil-sur-Roya (Alpes-Maritimes), asked "solemnly for the reestablishment or maintenance of military, land and air resources, as long as populations remain landlocked".

"I refuse the return to normalcy and the disengagement of the army as long as our friends from Upper Roya are deprived of road access and dependent on the outside for food" writes the young elected on Facebook.

The town, heavily affected, remains accessible by road.

This is not the case with its neighbors located higher in the Roya valley, where only a few rare trains arrive every day.

“In these exceptional circumstances, exceptional resources must be maintained.

With 4,000 inhabitants deprived of road access as winter approaches, we are faced with an emergency situation that requires military support.

"

Sébastien Olharan insists on the essential reconstruction of road access, which could take years: “In view of the immensity of the site that will be the re-establishment of the road to Roya, it also seems necessary to me to maintain the military engineering, in support from the Department's roads service, to enable the populations to be opened up as soon as possible as far as Tende.

"

As in 1945

“Everyone remembers the army bridges that were deployed in 1945 along the entire length of the Roya valley.

No inhabitant can understand that we are not able today to resort to the same procedures.

"

This weekend, three weeks after the storm, the body of a seventh victim was discovered and identified: a 77-year-old man, living in Saint-Martin-Vésubie.

Eleven people remain missing.

As for the cost of rebuilding destroyed or damaged infrastructure, it could reach 1.5 billion euros depending on the communities.

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Storm Alex in the Alpes-Maritimes: Roads reopened in Vésubie, Haute-Roya still inaccessible by car

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