SAINTES: A man has gone missing in the Loire River in the flood-hit west of France, an official said, as the country on Wednesday marked a record-breaking streak of 35 consecutive days of rain.
National weather service Meteo-France said the country was experiencing its longest series of rainy days since measurements began in 1959, breaking the 2023 record.
Four departments in western France were placed under red alert over the risk of flooding, with officials expecting the situation to worsen with the arrival of Storm Pedro, which is poised to batter swathes of western Europe.
“It’s incredibly distressing, really. Every morning we see the water coming closer and closer,” said Isabelle Molinari, who lives in the western town of Saintes north of Bordeaux.
“And with tomorrow’s storm, I reckon it’ll rise even further,” Molinari said.
The mayor of Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic, activated the southwestern city’s emergency plan, the first time since record floods in 1999.
In the western town of Chalonnes-sur-Loire, which is located on the left bank of the Loire, a man went missing on Tuesday evening after his canoe capsized, said senior official Francois Pesneau.
“We are deploying resources, but there is objectively very little chance of finding this person,” he said, citing strong currents and cold water.
Nine departments were placed on orange alert, the second-highest.
In Saintes, environment minister Mathieu Lefevre, who wore a red life jacket over his suit, toured the flooded streets in a small boat.
Several central streets were flooded, as was the Arch of Germanicus, a historic monument which marked the entrance to the town in Roman times, AFP journalists saw.
‘Climate disruption’
“We’re dealing with an exceptionally large-scale phenomenon.
“The flood warnings have now been in place for 33 days,” Lefevre said.
He said that once the water recedes, work will have to be carried out “to make cities more resilient to episodes that are likely to become more severe and more frequent due to climate disruption”.
In total, around 50 streets and 900 homes have been flooded, according to local officials, who are preparing for weather conditions to worsen.
“The flood peak is not expected before Saturday or Sunday,” said mayor Bruno Drapron.
Benjamin Cholet, who lives in Saintes, said he had been using temporary wooden walkways for the past few days.
“If you really have to go out, then you end up doing a bit of a balancing act,” he said.
“But I’m mainly thinking of my neighbours, who are much older than I am. So I think it’s more difficult for them,” he said.
On Wednesday morning, several flood evacuees stayed in a shelter set up in a local gymnasium, complete with blankets and hot drinks.
“This is the first time this has happened to me. I completely panicked,” said one of the evacuees, Francoise Helin, 52, who lives in a house with her wheelchair-bound mother, 81.
“The water rose suddenly today. The nurses couldn’t even access our house anymore,” she added.
The new rainfall expected on Wednesday and Thursday could “fuel the current floods”, said Lucie Chadourne-Facon, director of flood alert service Vigicrues.
The affected regions will see drier weather from Friday, she told reporters, adding however that “the end of the rain does not mean the end of the flooding”.
“A return to normal conditions will then occur very gradually,” added Chadourne-Facon.
