In the Southeast, municipalities prepared but fatalistic in the face of “inevitable” floods
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The high summer heat raises fears of particularly violent storms and even floods in the coming months.
Storm which ravaged Corsica heralds the start of the stormy season which affects south-eastern France and the Mediterranean region every year. 2022 could be a historic vintage according to meteorologists, due to exceptionally high sea and soil temperatures. “The Mediterranean Sea temperature anomalies observed this summer are one of the factors that could aggravate the intensity of these Mediterranean rainfall phenomena this year.“, warns the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
Certainly, “at the moment, we seem to be heading for a dry autumn, including around the Mediterranean», underlines Régis Crépet, meteorologist at The Weather Channel*. However, “if low precipitation is a general trend, the appearance of local epiphenomena is inevitable“, he warns. In addition, in the event of a hot and dry autumn, as it seems to be the case this year, these storms can occur longer in the year. “After a long water deficit, there is a catch-up effect“, he warns.
An annual phenomenon
A threat with which the municipalities of the region have become accustomed to living. “We are already on the block every year“, we underline at the town hall of Saint-Laurent-du-Var. Same tone in Vaison-la-Romaine: “There is a relative fear“, Details Jean-François Périlhou, the various right mayor. Admittedly, the scorching summer invites caution, but on the side of this elected official, we prefer to highlight the force of habit and the high degree of preparation of the region in the face of these annual episodes. “We are broken, it’s cultural“Explains the bravado elected.
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As every year at this time, the waterways are cleaned to remove obstacles to the proper flow of water and exercises are held regularly. But no major works are specifically planned. “An arrangement is a long time», justifies Eric Ménassi, PS mayor of Trèbes, in Aude. “We need preliminary studies, co-financing because the municipalities cannot support them alone…“, he details.
The long development time
He takes as an example his city, seriously affected in 2018, where six people had died: “an indelible trauma“, he breathes. Since then, 600,000 euros have first been invested in channeling runoff water in the north of the city. In the south, 52 houses were preempted by the State and destroyed because they were in a dangerous zone. But it is only at the end of this year that a broader work of redevelopment of the riverbed will begin. “It is necessary to lateralize the watercourse, the dykes are not a solution because they accelerate the speed of the watercourse“explains the city councilor.
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These major works, planned over several years, are detailed in the PAPI (Flood Prevention Action Program). That of Ouvèze was thus spread out from 2017 to 2023 and provided for 27 measures for a total of 6 million euros.
Vital precautions but not always sufficient. In case of danger, the municipality knows how to react quickly: “We have water measurements 30 minutes and one hour upstream, reassures the mayor of Vaison-la-Romainein case of too high a rise I can launch an automatic call to 200, 300 or more people for an emergency evacuation“. “At constant flow (those of 1992 Editor’s note), the human and material consequences will be lower“, he feels confident, but he adds: “with the river, there are no limits“.
Inevitable epiphenomena
What to head for a disaster foreshadowed? Not necessarily, tempers Régis Crépet: “Certainly the heat of the soil and water is the driving force behind such extreme phenomena, but they do not automatically guarantee them.“. Indeed, a trigger is needed to cause the creation of climatic instability: the arrival of a mass of cold air. It is the encounter with the lower heat that causes a breakup and the creation of clouds. A phenomenon that is currently invisible in the forecasts for the next few weeks.
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Not enough to reassure the mayors concerned, such as that of Vaison-la-Romaine where 30 years ago, the floods had led to the death of 38 people, plus 4 missing. Its mayor points out that “according to the elders, “in 1992 not a drop of water fell during the summer, just like this year“.
SEE ALSO – In Marseille, the Old Port flooded after heavy rains
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