The risk of flooding remains high. The Saône-et-Loire went into red alert for floods on the evening of Monday April 1, joining the Côte-d'Or and the Yonne, while the heavy rain of the last few days caused rivers to swell. and caused “exceptional floods”.
“Rainy episodes have been occurring one after the other in the country for several days” on “grounds that are already very wet,” recalls the Vigicrues site in its 10 p.m. bulletin. “As a result, exceptional floods are observed on the Armançon and the Serein (Yonne and Côte-d’Or), as well as on the Arroux (Saône-et-Loire),” continues Vigicrues.
Concerning the Armançon, the decline has started in Côte-d'Or, but the rise in waters should continue during the night from Monday to Tuesday in the Yonne, downstream of this river.
“Since the beginning of the afternoon, the Armançon basin has been in decline, allowing an improvement in the situation in Semur-en-Auxois, Venarey-Les-Laumes and Montbard as well as all the surrounding municipalities,” indicates the Côte-d’Or prefecture Monday evening.
“The flood arrived too suddenly” Monday around 9:30 a.m., the mayor of Aisy-sur-Armançon (Yonne), Olivier Murat, told AFP. Roads were cut, around twenty people evacuated, he said.
The water rose to 2.89 meters in this town between 4:30 p.m. and 6:40 p.m., according to the Vigicrues website. This should mark its peak, according to the prefecture. The last record recorded in Aisy-sur-Armençon dates back to May 4, 2013, at 2.45 m.
However, the alert has not been lifted. “The flood wave on the Armançon moves in the evening and all night downstream from Aisy-sur-Armançon (notably the communes up to Tonnerre),” warns the Yonne prefecture.
Nearly 300 homes were affected by preventive power cuts, which could be extended depending on the evolution of the situation, according to the prefecture.
Precipitation also continues to swell another river, the Ouche, which borders Dijon. This increase "will continue throughout the night and until early tomorrow morning", warns the Côte d'Or prefecture, with levels reaching up to 3.20 meters in the metropolitan area.
“We were surprised by the intensity”
Indre-et-Loire, which had been on red alert since Saturday, returned to orange on Monday afternoon thanks to a decline in the Vienne.
In this department, 562 people were evacuated this weekend. All are called to return home and "it now remains to assess the damage", indicated the sub-prefect of Indre-et-Loire, Guillaume Saint-Cricq, during a press conference.
"We were surprised by the intensity of the phenomenon. We didn't expect it. (...) It happened very quickly," he admitted, praising the "strong resilience of the residents": they “are used to living with the river and rivers, we have had few calls” for emergency help, he explained.
In addition to humans, "we also evacuated animals, bulls, horses and cows, an animal park", indicated the sub-prefect.
In several streets of Chinon, residents tried to barricade their homes with concrete blocks, tarpaulins or even stones.
If "the damage is difficult to estimate", services in "drinking water, sanitation, telephony have been maintained", as well as electricity, welcomes Jean-Luc Dupont, the mayor of Chinon.
Kayaker still missing
In Haute-Vienne, a kayaker has been missing since Saturday afternoon, after an alert given by several witnesses who saw him "in difficulty" on the flooded Vienne in Aixe-sur-Vienne, ten kilometers to the west from Limoges.
After a suspension "at nightfall", the search, carried out by the gendarmerie, will resume Tuesday morning, the prefecture said.
Other departments are on orange alert: Charente-Maritime, Charente, Gironde, Dordogne, Gard, Bouches-du-Rhône, indicates Météo-France.
In Gard, the prefecture announced the closure to traffic of 17 submersible bridges and lookout crossings, as well as numerous municipal submersible bridges.
In mid-March, eight people died in bad weather linked to storm Monica which hit the south-east of France.
With AFP
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