20 years ago, "Lothar" and "Martin" swept the Cher: the Berrichons remember

Within the kitchen of his farmhouse away from the village of Blancafort, eyes on the entrance web page Republican berry dated December 27, 1999, Mireille Doriancourt shakes the 5 fingers along with her proper hand. In entrance of the yellowed photograph of his half-timbered barn devastated by the storm “Lothar”, the gesture betrays a whirlwind of emotions. Combination of emotion and reduction: “What a catastrophe if you assume again! The passage of a twister within the early morning had blown all the things away. There was wooden and rubble in every single place. Parked beneath, the newly bought minivan was out of use, buried. Identical for an outdated Renault 20 and a bike that I used after I was a child to go to the fields with dad and that I saved for my youngsters. However we’ve got to place it into perspective. It's simply hardware. “

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“It's true, immediately, I used to be devastated. However when the electrical energy and the tv got here again dwelling after a number of days, we noticed that some had misplaced much more: a cherished one. ”

Murielle Doriancourt (Inhabitant of Blancafort)

Murielle Doriancourt is a kind of Berrichons who had been hit laborious by the 1999 storm that swept throughout France. At dwelling, the harm had been estimated at 1,000,000 francs.

All our articles on the 1999 storm in the Cher

Since then, the barn has been rebuilt, remodeled right into a home to deal with Agnes, his mom. “It's true, immediately, I used to be devastated. However when the electrical energy and the tv got here again dwelling after a number of days, we noticed that some had misplaced much more: a cherished one. “

“It was loopy,” blows a firefighter

“Lothar”, the primary blade, on December 26, 1999, and “Martin”, the second, the next two days, claimed the lives of 92 individuals in France. Within the Cher, the storm of the century triggered no casualties. However the harm triggered triggered a wind of panic. On the rail, with rail site visitors severely disrupted by a number of falling bushes on the tracks. In cities and villages, with the roofs scattered like a puzzle of the Saint-Henri church, in Bourges, the Châteauneuf-sur-Cher basilica, the Mallard and Bourgneuf faculties, in Saint-Amand-Montrond and Vierzon… line, the Cher firefighters have multiplied the interventions. On the one day of December 26, 1999, greater than 1,800 interventions had been recorded.

“It was loopy,” remembers Olivier Bougrat, now chief warrant officer on the Danjons barracks in Bourges. The roll of tickets for the interventions to be carried out saved turning. The scenario was so distinctive that the departmental director of Sdis (Departmental fireplace and rescue service, Editor's observe) had requested that radio messages – in 1999, the cell phone didn’t exist with us – be restricted in order to not intrude with communications regarding pressing interventions. The opposite outings had been carried out with out essentially noticing. “One of many innumerable interventions of firefighters, this time rue Moyen, in Bourges.

“Within the misfortune of this distinctive climatic occasion, we had an opportunity. The one which the storm occurred on a Sunday, a day when not many individuals discover themselves on the street to get to work “

Olivier Bougrat (Fireplace Chief Warrant Officer)

Roof overlaying, securing chimneys and aerials for personal people, strengthening the construction of a dairy in Argent-sur-Sauldre… For 5 days, Olivier Bougrat traveled the Cher together with his a number of caps. On the 26th, as a volunteer firefighter in Avord. The 27 and 28 as knowledgeable in Gibjoncs and member of the Recognition and Intervention in Harmful Areas (Grimp) group. “Within the misfortune of this distinctive climatic occasion, we had an opportunity,” breathes Olivier Bougrat. The one which the storm occurred on a Sunday, a day when not many individuals discover themselves on the street to get to work. With the slaughter of bushes and utility poles on the street, the toll may have been dire. “

In Graçay, streets within the middle of the village had been flooded.

As much as 90,000 properties with out electrical energy

Shaken by very sturdy winds – the utmost gust was recorded in Bourges by Météo France at 122 km / h, on December 26 at eight:34 am -, scarred proper by way of, a big a part of the division was plunged into darkness , the overhead energy grid having been severely affected. The figures bear this out: an envelope of three.7 million euros was wanted to restore and rebuild the 50 kilometers of broken overhead traces and the 200 mendacity poles. As much as 90,000 households have been disadvantaged of electrical energy out of the 130,000 in Cher.
Regardless of the assist within the air of a helicopter, intervened on December 29 to higher perceive the final downside areas, and the reinforcement, on the bottom, of the military, with heavy gear to clear bushes, the technicians of 'EDF haven’t managed to reconnect all of the properties for New Years Eve to the community.

Candlelight New 12 months's Eve

For Andrée, additionally from Blancafort, now aged 70, as for a handful of properties within the north of the Cher, the transition to the 12 months 2000 “occurred by candle and chimney and was finally not worse. It creates a stupendous ambiance, it brings individuals collectively, she nonetheless smiles. The fireside is nice. It’s used for heating, lighting, cooking. As anticipated, we ate our roast beef and potatoes, however cooked in a pan over the coals. For metropolis dwellers, this case could appear inconceivable, however within the countryside, we’ve got sources. “

Huge harm within the forests

Forest, too, is a useful resource. Within the Cher, on the finish of December 1999, in just some hours, 40,000 cubic meters of wooden – the equal of 16 swimming swimming pools 50 m lengthy, 25 m huge and a couple of m deep – fell to the bottom within the public forests. Winds so sturdy that bushes 200 years outdated and nearly 40 meters didn’t resist. 20 years later, the stigma continues to be seen.Within the Choeurs-Bommiers forest, between Cher and Indre.

“The reconstruction of the Cher forests was carried out for essentially the most half by pure regeneration, which made it potential to ensure the origin, the difference and the standard of the Berry oak groves,” explains Marjorie Guillon, head of the forest growth service on the Berry company. -Bourbonnais of the Nationwide Forestry Workplace (ONF). The stands which succeeded these which fell in the course of the storm are at present eight to 9 meters excessive. “

“Once I found this spectacle of desolation, I used to be deeply touched. It was my mom’s property. I grew up in it, together with the bushes. My forest, I cherished it “

Patrice Pinguet (Farmer)

In Clémont, the previous personal forest of Patrice Pinguet is being rebuilt. Step-by-step. Of the 30 hectares of conifers, 16 had been uprooted. For the octogenarian, who not owns this household plot, the 1999 storm had damage. Doubly flawed. Within the pockets and within the coronary heart. The forest of Patrice Pinguet, in Clémont, devastated.
A land of desolation after the passage from Lothar, to Clémont.

“Financially, the loss was nice for the Solognote breeder of sheep that I’m and who hoped, with the exploitation of this forest and the thinnings carried out each 5 or 6 years, to launch a small extra subsidy. As an alternative, in a single gale, the forest misplaced two-thirds of its potential, he mentioned. Once I found this spectacle of desolation, I used to be deeply touched. It was my mom’s property. I grew up in it, together with the bushes. My forest, I cherished it. “

Benjamin Gardel

benjamin.gardel@centrefrance.com