Floods in Pas-de-Calais: Béchu talks about buying back flooded houses

The Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu announced on Tuesday January 23 the possibility that the State would buy back certain homes that were badly damaged during the two episodes of record flooding in Pas-de-Calais in November and January.

The municipalities affected by the second episode of flooding and which had not already been classified as a natural disaster will be so on Wednesday, he indicated during a visit to set up a ministerial monitoring committee in Arras.

The prefect must "specify the conditions" allowing residents whose house has suffered damage exceeding "half the market value" to benefit from a "purchase scheme within the framework of the Barnier fund", indicated Mr. Béchu.

Some residents, exhausted by floods which sometimes lasted several weeks, had called for such measures, citing precedents such as the deconstruction of hundreds of houses in Vendée and Charente-Maritime after the Xynthia storm in 2010, after compensation from the fund. for prevention of major natural risks (FPRNM) known as the “Barnier fund”.

Eligible owners will be able to benefit from an “automatic repurchase by the State up to 240.0000 euros”, Mr. Béchu said during a press point.

An “amicable buyout” may also be requested by owners whose accommodation has been less damaged.

In the longer term, "in the coming months, we will have to rethink the maps with flood risks", he warned, referring to the need to rethink water governance, acquire pumps, and to “fight to avoid urban sprawl”.

Faced with the lack of local rehousing solutions, he also announced the installation of "around a hundred mobile homes", financed by a housing assistance fund.

The French state pumps sent as reinforcements to this polder zone will be kept on site “as long as necessary”, he added.