An “intense and particularly devastating” storm hit Meures (Haute-Marne) on Saturday, July 20. In just a few minutes, regarding ten according to residents, a wave swept through the village.
One wave is enough. In Meures, residents woke up with their feet in the water this Sunday, July 21. This commune in Haute-Marne was the epicenter of the intense storm episode that hit the department, placed on orange alert, during the night.
An “intense and particularly devastating” episode, recounts Régine Pam, prefect of Haute-Marne, on BFMTV.
In just a few minutes, regarding ten according to the inhabitants, a wave swept through the village. It might be due to “a form of ice jam breaking upstream of the villages which caused a particularly large quantity of water,” the State representative continued.
“The wave swept away everything in its path,” said the prefect of Haute-Marne, weakening a number of buildings and forcing residents to “take refuge in higher ground in a very short time.”
No serious injuries
Given the scale of the weather phenomenon, one of the firefighters’ priorities was the evacuation of people unable to find shelter on the upper floors. Thanks to their rapid intervention, “some remained in the water for a few minutes” before being “treated for hypothermia”. These people were also able to return home this Sunday, Régine Pam emphasizes.
These evacuated residents “are among the five people taken care of by the emergency services”. According to a latest report, eight people were slightly injured following the bad weather. While some people were taken care of for hypothermia, others were taken care of following slightly injuring themselves while trying to get out of the water. “We do not have any serious injuries”, assures the prefect of Haute-Marne.
The guests at a birthday party, organized in the municipal function room, were also taken care of by the firefighters. Although sheltered in this space, little water had infiltrated, “the emergency services preferred to evacuate them as a precaution before the situation might become catastrophic”, reports the prefect.
The material toll is heavier. In Meures, “the situation is very alarming” from the point of view of infrastructure. “However, the rapid intervention of our emergency services has made it possible to preserve human lives,” recalls the prefect.
The wave hit the wall of a building. This Sunday, a team of firefighters specializing in building assessments checked whether the measures put in place “will temporarily secure the structure.” If the building were to collapse, it might hinder traffic in the village.
Cars “floated 200 to 300 meters”
“The emergency is to secure at least some of the debris and remove it from the traffic lanes that are important for the interventions,” reports Régine Pam. On Saturday evening, the intervention of the rescue teams was slowed down because the road was blocked by debris.
On the main street, some homes have “between 1.50 and 1.80 meters of water,” reports Sylvain Collot, the mayor of the town. This Sunday morning, a pile of cars bloomed in the street. “They floated for 200 to 300 meters. Due to the force of the current, they broke down the garage doors,” reports the mayor. “It’s surprising. We may have many images, but when it happens to you, it’s surprising.”
The State and emergency services had prepared in advance of the storm episode as soon as the orange alert was issued by Météo-France. “This storm phenomenon was announced for the entire department arriving from the southwest. The department was placed at this front line and this phenomenon being announced over the entire length, it was difficult to anticipate the specific point of impact”, relates the prefect.
The emergency services were nevertheless already on alert. The regional prefect had activated a crisis unit “from the start of the phenomenon”. In Meures, in one or two hours, a quantity of water “regarding ten times greater than what is observed in a normal rainy phenomenon” was poured down.
“This is unprecedented,” reacted Sylvain Collot, the mayor of the town, to BFMTV. “My oldest fellow citizens, who are 90 years old, have never experienced this.”
“Helpless”
In the streets of the village, residents put on their boots for the clean-up operations. One disaster victim reported to BFMTV that he was caught off guard on Saturday evening.
“I was coming home from shopping and I arrived in torrential rain so I rushed back to the house,” he explained. The man began mopping up the areas where the water had managed to get in. “Then all of a sudden I saw the brown water coming under the threshold of the house and within two minutes the door gave way under the pressure of the water.”
The water then “lifted up the furniture, which was nevertheless loaded with dishes”. This disaster victim might only observe the damage: “everything collapsed. We are helpless, we are wading, we have water up to our navels”.
Frédéric Fernandes with Charlotte Lesage
