Five departments had been placed on red alert, a level rarely triggered for this type of weather phenomenon.
It’s time to take stock after the passage of violent storms in France. Several measures had been announced upstream, in order to avoid the worst, Tuesday July 10. The authorities had notably launched multiple calls for caution, in particular asking the inhabitants to “limit their movements”. A warning message had thus “was broadcast on the mobile phones of the population present in the Haut-Rhin territory”, according to a press release from the prefecture. As a precaution, the SNCF had announced the interruption of several TER connections in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, in Burgundy-France-Comté and in the Grand Est.
In the Côte-d’Or
THE “sectors of Beaune and the south of Dijon” were the most affected, according to Colonel Tardieu, deputy director of Sdis, interviewed by France Bleu. In Meursanges, around forty houses were affected and a command post had been set up there. “The hailstones were as big as petanque balls. My three cars were completely crushed by the storm”testifies a resident. Warehouses were affected, including one of 3,000 m2 in Sainte-Marie-la-Blanche.
:quality(50)/2023/07/12/64ae38cab4bd8_64ada1f9bd1ff-toit-superette.png)
The storm broke around 7:30 p.m. in Dijon, causing torrents slowing traffic in certain lanes in the city center. The false ceiling of a supermarket collapsed, rue Paul-Cabet, when the wind rushed. Several customers were still on site, but there were no injuries, firefighters told France 3.
In the Haut-Rhin
The firefighters carried out around 210 interventions, in particular for falling branches or objects on the tracks. Roofs of houses were torn off, as in Pfetterhouse, in the south of the department. “Trees were bending, trees were uprooted”, says a resident to France Bleu. The roof of his house flew off and the firefighters stayed to try to limit the infiltration.
“I was at home and the roof of my house flew away”, a resident of Pfetterhouse testifies after the storms
➡️ https://t.co/pumdDszW6U pic.twitter.com/DqYSo6lBbD— France Bleu Alsace (@bleualsace) July 12, 2023
The passengers of a TGV stopped in Sierentz also had to be taken care of by the Civil Protection and they were accommodated for the night in a gymnasium made available by the town hall. Flights were canceled at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg between 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m., adds France Bleu. At 5:30 a.m., some 1,412 homes remained without electricity, according to the prefecture.
In the Territory of Belfort
The stormy episode was less intense than the weather forecast “could let him fear”, underlines the prefecture. More than 500 lightning strikes were still recorded and gusts of wind were recorded at 109 km / h, specifies France Bleu. Main consequence: more than 1,300 power cuts recorded in the evening, according to Enedis. The firefighters carried out around twenty interventions, particularly in the south of the department, for fallen trees, flooded cellars and infiltrations in houses.
In the Doubs
The damage is limited to a few roofs damaged by the wind in the north of the department, reports France Bleu. Some “trees across” of the roads required the installation of diversions, in particular in the Presentvillers sector. Also, in the evening, “about 2,500 Enedis users” were deprived of electricity in the Montbéliard sector, specifies the prefecture.
In the Jura
Twenty-five scout camps and 650 people were sheltered, according to the prefecture, as a preventive measure. A high-voltage line broke in the early evening, in the Pont-de-Poitte sector, and briefly deprived 6,500 customers of electricity. Electricity was restored around 7:45 p.m., however.