Alpes-Maritimes: in Saint-Laurent du Var, the difficult cleaning of the coast

REPORTAGE

A week after the start of the spectacular bad weather that hit the Alpes-Maritimes, the time has come to see the extent of the damage in the three valleys of Tinée, Vésubie and Roya.

In Saint-Laurent du Var, the coastline is totally disfigured, and firefighters and volunteers are working to clean it up. 

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The coast is nothing more than a long wooden beach, with tons of branches, trunks and stumps drained by the neighboring Var and came to be stranded by the sea. Christophe Castelino, forestier-sapper from the Var, is at work.

"We take the pieces of wood, we clear them, we make piles, we cut them with a chainsaw and we remove them from the beach", he describes at the microphone of Europe 1. "They are recovered by a backhoe loader which is put in a truck. The truck clears the edge of the beach. It's a painstaking job. "

A dog to help tow the logs

The equipment of workers and volunteers is basic: only gloves, a helmet and elbow grease.

Because more than machines, it is the arms that are important.

"The machines cannot go as close as possible because below there is sea water", explains a worker, "so we make a human chain to go out and bring the wood back where the machines can. to access". 

At the other end of the beach, the young firefighters benefit from the help of an unusual aid to clear the rocks: that of a Newfoundland dog accompanied by his diving firefighter, and who pulls the most trunks heavy.

"With the weight of the water, the dog will be able to drag the tree trunk without getting tired and it will be much easier to evacuate it", explains a volunteer. 

But when you ask firefighters how long the worksite will last, the answer is always the same: a shrug.