Déjà vu in Crécy-la-Chapelle: Floods, Evacuations, and a Mayor at the End of Her Rope
Thursday, October 10th, was not just another day in Crécy-la-Chapelle; it was the day the Grand Morin decided it had had enough of being polite and opted to crash the party instead. Yes, you heard me right—flooding the city center like an unwanted guest at a wedding! Firefighters and police officers were as busy as mothers on Black Friday, evacuating residents while juggling the job of ensuring nobody took a swim without a valid ticket!
This time around, the culprit was the Kirk depression, which, frankly, sounds like a really bad therapy session, not a weather event. Residents were evacuated by sheer force of dozens of dedicated firefighters and gendarmes—good luck explaining that at the office on Monday. “So, how was your weekend?” “Oh, just a casual evacuation from a flood.” Casual? More like a scene from an action movie—minus the cool car chases but with plenty of wet socks!
180 Residents Evacuated
In total, 180 residents participated in this little dance of evacuation. Firefighters had their hands full as some residents decided they’d rather cozy up with relatives and friends than spend the night in the gymnasium. I guess when disaster strikes, family is the ultimate emergency refuge! Others, however, took their sweet time and waited for firefighters to gently nudge them out. Just imagine them sitting there, legs crossed, perhaps with a glass of wine, saying “Flood? Pfft, I’ve got Netflix!”
“The City Center is Depressing”
And then there’s the mayor of Crécy-la-Chapelle, Christine Autenzio, who is not only navigating flood waters but also the emotional tsunami of seeing her town submerged. “The city center is depressing!” she bemoaned, which sounds like something we’d all admonish after a particularly rough holiday season. “We are in the dark, since everything blew up.” That’s a rather dramatic description, isn’t it? Sounds like her city turned into the set for a dystopian novel overnight!
The visuals must have been something straight out of a thriller with people teetering on the brink of despair. “It’s terrible, it’s catastrophic,” she exclaimed. I mean, try popping out for a croissant during a flood—might as well wear a flotation device. And bless her heart, despite being “at the end of her rope,” she’s there for her constituents, showing solidarity like a true local leader. But she’s got her work cut out facing not just the flood but perhaps a few soggy emotional outbursts from those she’s trying to help.
Crécy-la-Chapelle has seen floods before (two weeks ago to be precise). At this point, one has to wonder if it’s becoming a tradition—like that awkward family gathering you can’t escape! So as we stand alongside Mme. Autenzio in solidarity, let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope for clearer skies and fewer flood warnings. Anyone for a rubber duck race? It just might be the town’s best entertainment choice in the unfortunate face of calamity!
In the end, that’s how life rolls in Crécy-la-Chapelle for now, complete with floods, evacuations, and a mayor battling both water levels and her emotional reservoirs. And if anyone’s looking to invest in inflatable boats, now seems like the perfect moment!
The Grand Morin flood floods part of the city center this Thursday, October 10. Firefighters and police evacuated residents this Thursday evening and throughout the night.
Residents of downtown Crécy-la-Chapelle were evacuated this Thursday, October 10 due to the floods currently affecting Seine-et-Marne after the passage of the Kirk depression, BFMTV learned from firefighters.
Several dozen firefighters and gendarmes are evacuating residents because the Grand-Morin, placed on red alert since Wednesday, is flooding part of the city.
180 residents evacuated
180 people had to be evacuated, firefighters told BFMTV. “They did not necessarily want to stay in the gymnasium which was opened, they left to be with family, neighbors, friends,” explained the mayor of the town, Christine Autenzio, on BFMTV this Thursday evening.
Other residents left on their own, without waiting for the firefighters to intervene. However, some remained on the housing floors. Firefighter shifts are provided to help evacuate residents who wish to leave the city, specifies the mayor.
“The city center is depressing”
The mayor of the town deplores the damage caused by the flood in the center of Crécy-la-Chapelle.
“The city center is depressing. We are in the dark, since everything blew up. We are more than a meter from the water. The city is closed,” she says. “It’s terrible, it’s catastrophic. I saw people crying. (…) It’s very difficult.”
The mayor remained mobilized this Thursday evening to make herself available to her constituents, but admitted to being “a little at the end of her rope”. However, she notes “a lot” of solidarity within her commune, already affected by floods two weeks ago during a vigilance in Grand-Morin.
Boris Kharlamoff with Laurène Rocheteau
