Stéphane Burgatt, edited by Antoine Terrel 7:01 am, September 15, 2021
The Gard was hit on Tuesday by very bad weather.
In some villages, such as Vergèze, "entire neighborhoods have been damaged", testifies the mayor of the town, Pascale Fortunat-Deschamps, on Europe 1.
TESTIMONY
One person is still missing there, but no victim, except one "lightly injured" by lightning, has so far been officially reported. On Tuesday, the Gard was hit by violent thunderstorms and very heavy rains, leading the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin to go there, and further disturbances are expected during the day. And on the side of the inhabitants, the time has come to see the damage. In Vergèze, one of the villages most affected by the floods, 20 kilometers south-west of Nîmes, the mayor of the town of 5,000 inhabitants believes that this is unheard of in the department.
"This is the first time that I have seen such a disaster", says Pascale Fortunat-Deschamps at the microphone of Europe 1. "It is beyond impressive ... They are really whole sections of walls, of houses, which were on the floor. "
"Entire neighborhoods devastated"
"We are very happy because we have no victims," continues the elected.
"On the other hand, for material damage, it is too early to quantify anything", she adds, describing "entire districts which have been devastated", with "people who have lost a lot".
On site, we are therefore trying to mobilize to come to the aid of the victims.
"We opened an accommodation center and we took in people from the SNCF, since we have a TGV and a TER which was stuck at the Vergèze station. The railway tracks were under water."
"The priority is to rebuild"
In the accommodation center, are also welcomed "schoolchildren who could not return home and people who were on the highway and who could not get back on the road", continues Pascale Fortunat-Deschamps.
Europe 1 therefore met some schoolchildren who could not find sleep, installed on camp beds.
"Our parents couldn't come and pick us up ... We have to sleep here," they say.
"We don't even have pajamas."
Pascale Fortunat-Deschamps now wants to "help people, make an inventory".
"We will try to pool resources to help the department. The priority is to rebuild and especially to help people find their homes," describes the mayor.
Eight departments in orange vigilance for thunderstorms
The Gard went back to orange vigilance for thunderstorms, rain-floods and floods on Wednesday morning: "We expect strong rainfall intensities of the order of 80 to 100mm in a short time locally for Hérault and Gard, 50 to 80mm for the Ardèche and Drôme ", Météo France notes in its 6:00 am bulletin.
The organization has placed a total of eight departments in orange vigilance for thunderstorms (Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal, Aveyron, Hérault, Gard, Ardèche and Drôme).