Heavy rains flood homes and crops in northern France
Reuters
Published Nov 11, 2023 03:40PM ET
By Pascal Rossignol and Clotaire Achi
SAINT-ETIENNE-AU-MONT, France (Reuters) -Days of heavy rains in northern France have caused local rivers to overflow and flood houses and fields, prompting the evacuation of residents, with some having to be airlifted to safety.
More than 100 towns are on red alert, and some 200 schools in the region have been shut. Rescue workers have also had to evacuate cattle.
"It's catastrophic," said 32-year old farmer Gaetan Guche, whose poultry farm has been flooded, with up to 60 centimetres of water at times over the past five days.
Some chickens have been killed by the water, and he is worried about the others, fearing the spread of disease amid the humidity.
"We have to wait for the water to go down before we can see the whole damage. But I've had losses in chickens, financial losses in terms of seeds and equipment, and so today, it's really hard."
Nearby, strawberry farmer Jean-Loup Mionnet, whose fields are partly submerged in water, said next spring's harvest was compromised, fearing he will have few to no strawberries.
"We've never seen something like that," said campsite owner Jean-Marc Joyez in the village of Enquin-sur-Baillons, where many houses are flooded and roads submerged.
Environment Minister Christophe Bechu said dozens of towns would be considered in a situation of natural disaster, which makes it easier for those whose homes or businesses were flooded to benefit from insurance coverage.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.