Five years after Storm Alex, a commemorative ceremony was held in the gardens of the CADAM in Nice. The president and the prefect of Alpes-Maritimes, accompanied by departmental deputy Christelle d’Intorni, paid tribute in front of the memorial sculpture, Avenir. The disaster had resulted in ten deaths and eight missing persons in the valleys of Roya, Vésubie, Var, Esteron, and Tinée, all devastated but now rebuilt.
Exactly five years ago, the largest natural disaster struck Alpes-Maritimes. 650 million tonnes of water fell in just a few hours on the department. The valleys of Roya, Vésubie, Var, Esteron, and Tinée were ravaged, killing eighteen people, including two firefighters, Loïc Millo and Bruno Kohlhuber, and resulting in more than 13,000 affected.
To commemorate this fateful date for the department, the president of Alpes-Maritimes, Charles Ange Ginésy, was present once again. Accompanied by the prefect Laurent Hottiaux and the departmental deputy Christelle d’Intorni, they each gave speeches, paying tribute to the victims of the tragedy and their families. They praised everyone who participated in the rescue of those affected during the night and the following days. They also praised all the forces of the department: “to the SDIS 06 agents, the departmental council agents, the SMIAGE teams, partner companies, and the staff of the Agency 06. They contributed their part to building a reconstruction that seemed so improbable on the morning of October 3, 2020. And yet, together, we did it.” recalled the department president, Charles Ange Ginésy.
Candles and Wreaths in Tribute to the Victims
The ceremony took place in the Gardens of C.A.D.A.M (Administrative center of the Alpes-Maritimes department) in Nice, in front of the memorial sculpture inaugurated two years ago in tribute to the victims. Wreaths were laid at the feet of the sculpture, and eighteen candles were lit in tribute to the eighteen victims of the storm.
More than a hundred people gathered at this ceremony, including about twenty SDIS agents. Lieutenant Colonel Olivier Riquier, who participated in the operations of the tragedy on October 2, 2020, recalled: “The tragedy we experienced confirmed the importance of our organization.” He emphasized that: “maintaining a fire station in every village was crucial because during Storm Alex, the roads were cut off. Without this local presence, relief efforts would not have been properly distributed.“
