“It rained again this week in the region,” while water had begun to recede at the end of last week. On Tuesday, the Pas-de-Calais department was again placed under orange alert for rain and floods. According to Vigicrues, this new rainfall is likely to cause rivers to rise again.
“Complete standstill for almost three weeks”
A carrot producer in the Pas-de-Calais testified that “there is a total lack of visibility. We have been wanting to harvest for nearly 4 weeks, but everything has been at a complete standstill for almost 3 weeks. We need at least 4 to 7 days with wind and without rain for the land to dry out.” This is an unprecedented situation. At this time of year, two-thirds of our merchandise is usually already stored in fridges. We check the plots everyday to see where it is possible to harvest.” As far as the stocks are concerned, “we will not know for at least another month.” The producer warns, however, that with 10-15% fewer carrots already sown in the north of France this year, “the floods will have an impact on the already reduced volumes, and therefore on prices from January onwards.”
Two megapumps from the Netherlands
In order to facilitate the evacuation of water into the sea, two pumps from the Netherlands were installed at Mardyck earlier this week, as announced by French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. With a capacity of 5,000 m3/h each, these two pumps will “discharge the overflow of water into the sea and enable the overall water level on the Aa delta to be reduced.”
âš #Floods in the #Nord and #PasDeCalais:
As part of European solidarity and at the request of Gérald Darmanin, two Dutch pumps with a capacity of 5000 m3/h are being installed in Mardyck.
— Prefecture of Hauts-de-France and Nord (@prefet59) November 20, 2023
The mayor of Saint-Omer, François Decoster, thanked the Dutch ambassador on his X account.
A big "Dank U" to our Dutch neighbors and friends 🇳🇱! I'm so happy that the @hautsdefrance region's #voisinage policy, which I lead under the authority of @xavierbertrand , has fostered this European solidarity 🇪🇺. A big thank you to the ambassador @JanVersteegBZ.
— François DECOSTER (@fdecoster) November 20, 2023
Source - https://www.freshplaza.com
