Northern France is struggling with the effects of flooding. The water destroyed plantations and flooded farms. Farmers complain of heavy losses. According to forecasters, in some places such heavy rainfall as has occurred in recent days occurs on average once every hundred years. The authorities plan to declare a state of natural disaster.
The most difficult situation due to flooding caused by heavy rainfall is still in the Pas-de-Calais department. It is under the highest level weather alert on Saturday, and red flood alerts are in effect in over a hundred cities. About 200 schools were closed. According to data from Friday, several people were injured and one person died. The victim is an elderly man who fell into the swollen river.
In many places, the authorities are considering declaring a state of natural disaster. This is intended to make it easier for residents whose farms were affected by floods to benefit from insurance coverage.
“Our town is cut off from the world”
High water flooded roads and houses. The floods also caused huge losses in agriculture.
– The water in the buildings reached 60 centimeters. Meanwhile, outside, the fence surrounding the area was underwater two days ago and is about a meter high. The situation is catastrophic. We have to wait for the water to recede before we can assess the losses, said 32-year-old Gaetan Guche, whose poultry farm was flooded, in an interview with journalists.
As another resident said, “our town is cut off from the world.” – Yes, there is one road that allows entry, but you cannot drive through the entire village. We are trapped here, he described.
Floods in the north of FranceReuters
– The next strawberry harvest may be tragic. Plants are now exposed to various diseases and fungi. Perhaps there will be nothing to harvest, or the yield will be really small. The future, or at least the next season, is uncertain – lamented the breeder.
Such rainfall occurs on average once every hundred years
According to forecasters, in the west of the Pas-de-Calais department, accumulated rainfall amounts range from 50 to 70 liters per square meter, and locally even from 80-90 l/sq m.
“Some stations recorded rainfall accumulations that occur on average once every hundred years,” Meteo-France reported. In Bainghen, between Boulogne-sur-Mer and Saint-Omer, up to 275 liters of rain per square meter were recorded in two weeks.
Main photo source: Reuters