Dozens of municipalities woke up with their feet in the water, Tuesday, November 7, in Pas-de-Calais. The Liane, in the Boulogne-sur-Mer sector, and the Aa, in the Saint-Omer sector still threaten. The peak of the flood of these coastal rivers is expected respectively between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., raising fears of ” exceptional overflows“, according to the authorities. The two rivers are placed on red vigilance by Vigicrues, while the Hem and the Canche are on orange vigilance.
“More than 1,500 firefighters are mobilized in Nord Pas-de-Calais to face the risk of flooding,” wrote the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, on X, formerly Twitter. “They carried out more than 600 interventions during the night,” saidhe continued, declaring that “seven people [sont] injured at this time.” Follow the situation live.
Vigilance in the Center-West. In addition to Pas-de-Calais, five departments are on orange “flood” alert: Deux-Sèvres, Charente-Maritime, Charente, Gironde and Dordogne. Pas-de-Calais is also on “rain-flood” alert, like the North.
Dozens of schools closed. Schools in Saint-Omer and 35 other municipalities in the Aa basin, i.e. 67 schools, four middle schools and four high schools, have been closed since Tuesday morning, as announced Monday. Those in 33 additional municipalities, in the Liane basin around Boulogne-sur-Mer, will close after the canteen and before 2 p.m., according to the prefecture.
Seven people injured in Pas-de-Calais. “I call on all Pas-de-Calais residents to exercise the greatest vigilance and to respect the instructions of the authorities,” wrote on X (ex-Twitter) the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin. The Pas-de-Calais prefecture asked the residents concerned not to take their cars, to stay at home on an upper floor and to only evacuate on orders from the authorities.
Roads cut and homes deprived of electricity. According to France Bleu, several departmental roads were cut on Monday in Montreuillois. On the RN142, towards Saint-Omer, there is 15 cm of water at Le Wast, while the roads are also flooded in Waben, near Berck-sur-Mer, according to our colleagues. In the department, 500 homes are currently without electricity, according to France 3 Hauts-de-France.