"I have nothing left", the village of Bihucourt ravaged by a tornado

• A tornado ravaged the village of Bihucourt, in Pas-de-Calais.

• If no victim is to be deplored, the material damage is impressive.

• According to the mayor of the town, more than three quarters of the homes were affected.

From our special correspondent in Bihucourt (Pas-de-Calais),

The day after.

Sunday evening, the village of Bihucourt, in Pas-de-Calais was almost wiped off the map after the passage of what the local firefighters themselves describe as a tornado.

The meteorological event, which occurred around 6 p.m., lasted only a few moments.

It was enough to make this town a real scene of war.

This Monday morning, the inhabitants remained incredulous by noting the extent of the damage.

All the roads leading to the village of Bihucourt are cordoned off by gendarmerie roadblocks.

To enter inside, you must be a firefighter, rescuer, EDF technician or be able to prove that you live in the town.

"It is above all to avoid the influx of curious people and avoid looting", assures

one of the soldiers responsible for filtering entries by the main road.

In the fields around Bihucourt are scattered here and there roofing sheets, uprooted trees and personal belongings blown away by the wind.

But this is nothing compared to the spectacle of desolation offered by the center of the village.

“I have nothing left, even my car is under rubble”

“Of the 150 homes in the town, more than a hundred were affected.

It will be necessary to relocate more than half of the inhabitants for a very long period, ”laments the mayor, Benoît-Vincent Caille.

Obviously, the chosen one was at home when the elements were unleashed: “It was very fast.

The clouds appeared, we saw them descend and begin to form whirlpools.

When I saw a sheet fly away, I took my family to safety in the cellar,” he continues.

A good reflex, recognizes a firefighter, who was followed by many residents: "It's this presence of mind, but also because people were not yet in bed, that there was no victim," he explains.

No casualties, but innumerable damage.

In all the streets, fragments of tiles litter the ground.

Collapsed walls, collapsed frames, broken trees and electric poles.

"We are doing well in our misfortune, I now fear water infiltration", breathes Sébastien, contemplating the roof of his house stripped of half of its tiles.

Around him, several houses are reduced to a pile of rubble.

"I have nothing left, nothing left, even my car is under the rubble", cowardly, still amazed, a resident.

He has not yet been able to enter his house, he will have to wait for the firefighters to recognize the place to rule out any risk.

“We can only take what is strictly necessary”

Reconnaissance by the men of Grimp began on Monday morning.

They mark affected houses that are in danger of collapsing.

“We will have a precise inventory of fixtures this evening, affirms Philippe Rigaud, general controller of the SDIS 62. In the meantime, the inhabitants are welcomed in town hall in a psychological cell.

Around noon, however, we begin to see silhouettes coming out of dilapidated houses, dragging suitcases, carrying bags or pushing wheelbarrows.

Inside, what remains of their lives.

For Anne, it comes down to two full bags: “We can only take the bare necessities, such as clothes, papers.

Frankly, I'm disgusted.

»

From the gate of his garden, Jean-François calls out to the gendarmes: “I have to tell the town hall that I need a generator, my fish are dying,” he shouts.

He was relatively spared, only a few tiles from his roof having been taken away.

“I had some extra so I put it back myself.

But the most serious is electricity.

I have a hundred cichlids in tanks but no one gives a damn about the fish,” he complains.

From the end of the morning, or could attend the ballet of the roofing companies.

The luckiest, like Jean-François, saw their roofs replenished with the few tiles that were missing.

The others were offered tarpaulins.

"We have at least 150 people who will be relocated for a very long period," said the mayor.

Either in the surrounding towns, or in a nearby campsite, which makes several mobile homes available to the victims.

But the time is above all clearing, and to achieve this quickly, the city is calling on volunteers.

"It's a tragedy, a few weeks from Christmas moreover", blows the employee of a chip shop who walks the streets of Bihucourt to distribute sandwiches to the victims.

Solidarity did not wait for the mayor's call to organize.

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