“I won’t let you go”

A month after his first visit to flood victims in Pas-de-Calais, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal is once again visiting the department this Thursday, February 8. The opportunity to take stock of the commitments made.

Allan Turpin, mayor of Andres, expressed his distress at the administrative complexity he is facing regarding water. “We have to blow it all up! We have to put a boss in, there’s too much discussion. I’m happy that a Prime Minister as young as you wants to kick the anthill. Blow it all up and come back with something of simple. They make fun of me on the territory”tackled the mayor.

“We need to prepare in the longer term. These are phenomena that are likely to recur, or even become more pronounced. This is true here and everywhere in France”, warns Gabriel Attal about climatic phenomena such as the Pas-de-Calais floods. The Prime Minister promises that he will visit the department again in a month. “I won’t let you go”he says.

During a speech in front of local elected officials, Gabriel Attal announced the payment of an additional envelope of 10 millions of euros. They are added to the 50 million released by the Department at the beginning of December 2023. At the same time, the Prime Minister assures that the State will take 100% responsibility for the work in the most affected municipalities.

In front of the Blendecques bakery, a resident calls out to the Prime Minister, exasperated by what he has been experiencing since November. “The maintenance of the banks, all that has not been done. How do we do it? Because in the meantime, we are losing money. We bought our house less than two years ago and we have been flooded twice. Twice 80 centimeters. There, only the concrete blocks remain in my house.”

Since then, this resident has been housed elsewhere. “In the meantime, we pay double rent. Because we have to pay the mortgage and the rental. EDF, gas, we pay double. We will have to pay property tax even though we no longer live in the accommodation. How is it going? Can you explain to us?”he says.

“My state of mind is never to remain quietly in my ministry, it is to come into the field, confront people who have problems, including getting yelled at. […] I know that for you, who live it every day, it is very difficult It’s demoralizing and you find it hard to believe it but we will continue to act”promises Gabriel Attal to two young owners disillusioned by the situation. “We are in the process of simplifying all procedures”he repeats.

A local resident calls on the Prime Minister about the late payment of insurance. “It’s a long time, since November. The expert came but we have to wait for him to submit his report. Afterwards, the insurance will pay, but when? I no longer have any furniture, what do we do?”, she says. Gabriel Attal recalls that he obtained that the victims did not have to pay a double deductible despite the two floods.

“I know that there are things that are not going fast enough. Now, we are putting pressure on the insurance companies so that the payments arrive quickly. And we have to do all the work that could not be done since years to prevent this from happening again.”replies the Prime Minister, adding that the deadlines for starting cleaning work have fallen from nine to two months.

The important thing is to ask yourself what you do to be able to be peaceful

A merchant from Blendecques to Gabriel Attal

“We live with fear in our stomachs”says a trader to the Prime Minister, fearing to see new episodes of flooding in the coming months. “The important thing is to ask ourselves what we do to be able to be peaceful”, she continues. Watercourse cleaning work must be undertaken.

“I made a commitment to come back a month later. Not to come back for the sake of coming back but to measure what has changed and what still needs to move”, indicated Gabriel Attal upon his arrival in Blendecques. While speaking with a butcher who has not been able to reopen her business since November, he recalled that the aid of 5,000 euros for SMEs will be paid by the end of the month.

Gabriel Attal, whose helicopter landed at the Merville aerodrome, arrived at the “Au Fournil du Balain” bakery in Blendecques. The managers had to close their business for three weeks because of the first floods in the fall of 2023. The opportunity to interact with several merchants in the town.

The 2 February, the State announced the payment of aid of up to 5,000 euros for small businesses and the self-employed. Aid intended to cover business losses caused by flooding, which is not refundable by insurance.

The day before this trip, the subject of the victims and their distress was raised in the National Assembly. The Pas-de-Calais MP Bertrand Petit challenged the Prime Minister, accusing him of not acting quickly enough to give solutions. “Despite the ministerial visits and the promises, they have the feeling that nothing is moving forward. However, there is urgency”had launched the MP.

In response, the Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu listed the measures taken by the State before adding: “If silver bullets existed, we would know.”

The Prime Minister was due to begin his visit at 1:30 p.m. in the town of Blendecques. But according to our reporting team present on site, he should only arrive around 3 p.m. Accompanied by the Minister of Ecological Transition, Gabriel Attal must present the flood zone systems of state services.

After a visit to Longuenesse, another town hard hit by the floods of November 2023 and January 2024, Gabriel Attal must return to the tobacco bar “Le Relais du Lac”, in Clairmarais. During his first trip, the Prime Minister had already been there. The exchange with the manager of the place was particularly commented on.

Barely appointed Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal went to Pas-de-Calais on the 9th January 2024 in a department hit by historic floods. A month later, this 8 February, he returned to the area when intermittent rains raised fears of new river overflows.