Roofs torn off, power cut and transport disrupted: the northern third of France suffered Sunday the storm Ciara, which led to hundreds of rescue operations, before possible floods in the east overnight.
In total, 42 departments from Finistère to Doubs via Pas-de-Calais have been placed on orange alert “strong winds“by Météo-France, which reports gusts exceeding 100 km / h inland and up to 130 km / h on the coast.
The coastline is the subject of an alert “waves, flooding“from the Loire estuary to the northern beaches.
In the Channel, the ferry traffic connecting Calais to Dover (Great Britain) has been suspended “until further notice“, according to the spokeswoman for the port of Boulogne-Calais. The connections between Poole and Cherbourg or Dieppe and Newhaven were also canceled on Sunday.
In Wimereux (Pas-de-Calais), where winter sports enthusiasts went out to sea, the rescuers of the SNSM denounced behavior “unconscious“, not respecting”most basic cautions“issued by the prefectures.
“It is impressive, the high tide coupled with the force of the wind causes sheaves which pass up to two meters above the dike“Pierre told AFP, who, like many onlookers, came to observe the storm on the seafront and who himself was heavily watered by a wave.
Canceled flights
In the air, connections were also severely disrupted: several flights were delayed at Caen, Lille or Brest airports, affecting thousands of passengers, when that of Beauvais suspended all traffic, at least until 9 p.m.
“Crosswinds are too strong to safely land or take off“, said the spokesman for Lille airport.
At Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly, “delays are possible“, according to the airport authorities, who encourage passengers to seek information from their airlines.
Inland, car or rail traffic was complicated by falling branches or trees as in Ile-de-France, traffic was cut on part of the H line of the Transilien.
From the Paris-Nord station, several routes have been modified, delayed or deleted. In Normandy, several TER links have been replaced by coaches, while in Center-Val de Loire, those between Chartres and Le Mans have been canceled. SNCF also announced the abolition of several TER on Sunday evening and Monday in Lorraine and Alsace, “for security reasons“.
Aid was particularly requested: SDIS du Nord, for example, identified “more than 400 interventions related to the storm“. The roofs of municipal police buildings in Caudry or of a college in Quesnoy were damaged.
New high winds
On the electrical network, Enedis reported disturbances on the Boulogne coast as well as in Calais, Dunkirk, and even Liévin. Clippings have also been recorded in Finistère, according to the prefecture. In total, several thousand people were affected, but no precise assessment was communicated: “the worst of the crisis has not yet passed“, warned a spokeswoman for Enedis.
As the storm progressed, the municipalities closed their parks and gardens to the public: this was the case in the morning in Lille or Orléans, in the middle of the day in Paris, where the Eiffel Tower was also closed, and in the afternoon in Nancy or Strasbourg.
According to Météo-France, the wind will start to weaken “by the west at the end of the night then in the morning of Monday“. In Moselle and Meurthe-et-Moselle, floods are to be feared because of the expected precipitation. Some rivers, the level of which has increased with the heavy rains in recent days, could overflow.
More strong winds are expected during Monday “in the Alps and in Corsica“They could reach 200 km / h overnight from Monday to Tuesday in Cap Corse.
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