Sixteen western departments in high winds and flooding alert – Le Monde

A strong gust of wind over the Channel, with flooding risks on the coast, is expected until Tuesday morning announced Sunday, February 7 Meteo France, which placed sixteen departments in amber alert:

• the Nord, Pas-de-Calais, the Somme, the Seine-Maritime, Calvados, the Channel, the Cotes d’Armor and Finistère were placed in orange alert for wind and wave-submersion;
• Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, Loire-Atlantique, Vendée, Charente-Maritime Gironde, Landes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques have been orange alert for wave-submersion.

winds of 139 km / h on the Finistère and 124 km / h on the Normandy coast were recorded in the night from Sunday to Monday.

in a statement, Bernard Cazeneuve called people “Atlantic coasts of the English Channel and the North Sea the greatest care “. The interior minister reiterated the “strongly advised not to approach the sea, estuaries, coastal rivers and dams, to limit its movements strictly necessary, in particular to attention to falling trees, poles, or objects such as signs “.

” in case of power failure, it is imperative not to use thermal generators inside buildings to prevent deadly risk of intoxication “, the statement added.

Raising the sea level

According to Meteo France, the winds may blow, inside land on the coast of the departments Manche, between 110 and 120 km / h. According to the institute on Monday, “these stormy winds will gradually spread to the Pas-de-Calais and the North” . Strong winds “will generate and maintain very strong waves on the Atlantic coast and west of the English Channel. These particularly powerful waves will gradually amplify Monday on the Atlantic coast and the English Channel to reach remarkable heights “, plus a risk of ” premium “ (elevation level sea).

This combination of high coefficients and strong waves “may result, especially at high tide, submersions on exposed or vulnerable coastal departments concerned “.

Weather France encourages extreme caution along the coast but also inland because of the power of the winds expected. The Interior Ministry said that “preventive measures and monitoring” have already been taken, as in the Vendee, where “of water rescue teams were mobilized early” .