In October 2020, storm Alex devastated the village of Breil-sur-Roya -

E. Martin / ANP / 20 Minutes

  • The inhabitants of Breil-sur-Roya do not feel they are undergoing the new health measures, "the most important thing is reconstruction after the passage of the disaster", according to them.

  • The mayor of the town, Sébastien Olharan, believes that these measures are "incomprehensible" for a village like Breil-sur-Roya.

    For him, a tolerance should be applied in relation to "coastal towns with a high population density".

For a week, the government announced new confinement for many departments including the Alpes-Maritimes.

Travel restrictions, closure of so-called “non-essential” businesses, measures which ultimately “do not really affect” the inhabitants of the village of Breil-sur-Roya, affected by storm Alex in October 2020.

"The confinement, the curfew, it's not worse than what we have already experienced, launches Diego Soma who runs a bicycle store.

The town is empty but it is because of the storm and the roads still cut ”.

Next door, on Place Biancheri, tobacconist Véronique Brunori adds: “Personally, that doesn't change much with the current state of the valleys.

If there were no new measures, it would be the same.

There are only people from the village passing by.

The problem is, they feel left out.

For three months, we have the impression that nothing more is happening.

"

"The priority is to rebuild"

Lyuba Sofronieva, coordinator of the Secours populaire branch in Breil-sur-Roya, makes the same observation.

“The priority is to rebuild.

After the disaster, there were a lot of people.

Now it is very calm.

We sometimes have the feeling of being abandoned, of being alone in the world when the work is not progressing very quickly and there is still a lot to do.

Even without restriction, there is no longer anyone in the streets at 6 pm ”.

She adds, “Whatever the changes, those who remain need us.

Volunteers can continue to come with a certificate.

There are people from Nice who take the opportunity to help by coming here on weekends to help.

"

The possibilities of continuing the work and volunteering are questions that mayor Sébastien Olharan had to answer at the time of the announcements.

"It causes an accumulation of bad news while a distinction with the high density cities on the coast would have been smarter," he says.

Psychologically, it is difficult to live.

These are additional constraints for populations already weakened by previous events.

It adds fear to the isolation with an uncertain daily future ”.

Tolerance for a normal "pre-storm" life

During a meeting last week with the delegated prefect in charge of the reconstruction of the valleys, Xavier Pelletier, the elected representative asked to have "a certain understanding" on his part to allow "a normal pre-storm life and continue to rebuild ”.

"He recalled the rules in force by accepting some tolerances, but at the margin," said the mayor.

For the moment, the only concern of the inhabitants, including Diego Soma, is "to turn the page to find activities in the hope that all roads will be accessible normally by the beginning of the summer as announced".

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  • Covid 19

  • Coronavirus

  • Confinement

  • Nice

  • Severe weather

  • Storm