in the North, weakened houses and distraught owners

Dorothée Alloy, owner in Douai (Nord), has been living a nightmare since the discovery of a crack in a wall of her house, which has continued to widen. “Every morning, when I get up, I look at this section of wall, to see if at some point this crack is not going to be through. (…) It’s been polluting our lives for months”, she says. Same observation at Hem (Nord) for Johanne Legrand, also owner. Two years ago, after a drought, she discovered damage to her house.

She can no longer live in the property, nor sell it. “The crack goes all the way through the gable wall, and I’m just scared [qu’un] day my house is collapsing”, she laments. Drought causes movements of the clay soil, and therefore damage. To start the work, it would require recognition of a natural disaster. To assist its individuals in delicate situations, an association appoints independent experts. “People are helpless, they don’t know what to do. And very often, they listen to insurance experts who are not always aware of natural disasters”explains Thierry Paris, president of the Cat Nat Wannehain association.