At least three people have lost their lives and another has been injured due to the intense storm and "exceptional" flooding that is hitting the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône, in the south of the country, according to the Prefecture of the area.
The prefect of the department, Jacques Witkowski, has updated the number of victims after touring in recent hours the areas most affected by the rains, such as the municipalities of Istres, Saint-Martin-de-Crau, and Arles, where he has conveyed the "full and total support of the State" to those affected.
"The water is rising to unprecedented levels and I have a thought for all those who are in danger in the west of the department," Witkowski has stated, emphasizing that the institutions have mobilized with an "exceptional" deployment to respond to the emergency situation.
Due to the magnitude of the damage, emergency teams have had to relocate 250 people to reception centers prepared in Saint-Martin-de-Crau, while another three have been transferred to facilities set up in the town of Mouriès. To reinforce the rescue and water pumping tasks, five columns of support firefighters have been sent from the neighboring departments of Hérault and Haute-Garonne, to which military units from Civil Protection will be added.
Power outages, problems on trains and roads
The storm is also causing significant material damage and serious setbacks in the infrastructure. The municipalities of Saint-Martin-de-Crau and Arles are experiencing prolonged power outages that, combined with a widespread failure in the Orange telephone network, complicate communications. In light of this scenario, the authorities have activated the citizen alert system "FR-Alert" on the mobile phones of residents to disseminate the main safety instructions.
Traffic in the department is very limited, with the closure of key sections of the RN 113, RN 568, and RN 569, in addition to restrictions on the A55 and A54 highways. Rail transport is also experiencing significant incidents, especially on the lines connecting Marseille with Miramas.
Although this Wednesday the weather situation has started to stabilize, the Prefecture has urged citizens to reduce their movements to the "strictly necessary" and not to circulate on flooded roads. At the same time, the departmental Government has initiated procedures with national authorities to request the declaration of a disaster area, with the aim of accelerating the arrival of economic aid and the payment of insurance compensations.