The statements made by Christian Estrosi yesterday during his interview on the morning show of the Itélé channel regarding intervention services during the days of severe weather did not go unnoticed by the Prefecture of Alpes-Maritimes: “I was on the ground for 3 days and […] I never saw the State by my side.”
Coincidentally, in the afternoon, a statement from the prefectural press office provided a comprehensive assessment of the actions taken.
As a sort of clarification… putting the dots on the “i’s”?
Severe Weather from January 16 to 19, 2014 in the Alpes-Maritimes: The State alongside local authorities
From the first signs of severe weather during the night of January 16 to 17, 2014, State services were on alert and contacted the technical services of the municipalities. This support continued until January 19, 2014, via a telephone hotline and close communications with the General Council, the president of the metropolitan area, the municipalities, and the press.
Today, Wednesday, the Deputy Prefect of Nice Montagne is alongside the elected officials of the affected municipalities, notably those of the French Riviera agglomeration community.
During the State services’ hotline, no request for support was made by the mayors of the department, except for the mayor of Sainte-Agnès, who called upon geologists. Of the 1,081,244 inhabitants, 129 people were thus sheltered outside their homes in the communes of Sainte-Agnès, Nice, Lantosque, and a hamlet of Menton, without engaging State resources. The military engineers, however, remained ready to intervene if needed, and the Prefect of the Southern defense zone was made aware of this. The civil security helicopter, after ensuring the evacuation of 3 people in the Tinée valley, including a pregnant woman and a young girl with leukemia, assisted the neighboring Var department, severely affected by the floods.
The Alpes-Maritimes were spared from the floods, but significant damage was caused by mudslides and landslides, primarily in the eastern part of the department. Thus, on Monday morning, January 20, 2014, the mayors of the affected municipalities were invited by the prefecture to submit natural disaster files. The natural disaster classification procedure allows individuals whose property is covered by a “property damage” insurance policy to be compensated by their insurance company for damage caused by non-insurable natural events such as floods, mudslides, landslides, etc.
These files submitted by the mayors continue to be collected. To date, 45 files have been received. They will be sent by the prefecture on January 24, 2014, for review on January 28, 2014, by the competent interministerial commission.
Furthermore, to potentially access the Solidarity Fund for local authorities and their groups affected by natural disasters, the department’s elected officials have been informed about the opportunity to contact the State representative to have the General Council for the Environment assess the extent of the damage.
