Placed on red alert on Tuesday at the end of the afternoon, Pas-de-Calais returned to orange alert on Wednesday, November 15 in the morning for the risk of flooding, according to the 6 a.m. bulletin from Météo-France.

In this department known for its vast areas of marshes and which has lived for more than ten days with its eyes glued to its waterways, “very intense” precipitation on Tuesday afternoon “led to a very rapid resumption of the rise in levels » of the Liane and the Hem. The rains had raised fears of “floods similar or even higher” than those of last week, Vigicrues had warned, before a lull occurred.

After torrential rains, new evacuations took place in towns near Saint-Omer and Boulogne-sur-Mer. In Boulonnais, streets in the lower districts of Saint-Etienne-au-Mont and Isques were once again flooded by the overflowing of the Liane. A mudslide also destroyed the wall of a house in Saint-Etienne-au-Mont.

A sign of relative optimism, schools in the affected areas should be able to gradually reopen from Wednesday, after two days of closure ordered by the prefecture.

Large pumping operations

Numerous pumping operations are carried out in the department. For civil security, which deployed light pumps on Tuesday to help flooded individuals, this is “the largest pumping operation” it has ever implemented, underlined the prefecture. Five large capacity pumps are also in action.

Coming to meet disaster victims on Tuesday, President Emmanuel Macron declared that “all the municipalities which requested it”, i.e. 214 in Pas-de-Calais and “around thirty in the North”, would be classified as a natural disaster.

The Head of State also announced the release of a “support fund” of 50 million euros for affected communities. Another “exceptional support fund” for farmers will also be launched. Mr. Macron also entrusted the mayor of Saint-Omer with a mission to improve the drainage systems from waterways to the sea, drawing inspiration in particular from Dutch practices.

While the president promised great responsiveness from insurers, the Hauts-de-France region and the departments of Pas-de-Calais and Nord announced that they would cover the 380 euros insurance excess for affected residents. .

The floods that have hit Pas-de-Calais over the past ten days are exceptional in their duration and intensity and are part of a context of extraordinary rainfall in the country. The department successively suffered Storm Ciaran on November 2, record floods on November 7 and intense rainfall on November 9 and 10. Since November 6, approximately 1,400 people have been evacuated.

In the Alps, Haute-Savoie remains in red due to possible overflows in the Arve sector, where roads have been closed.