A-Infos (en) France, OCL CA #336 - Floods: tears in the rain... (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

For a month, the north of France experienced an exceptional 
meteorological phenomenon which risks becoming commonplace in the future 
given global warming and its expected consequences. Its effects have 
been increased tenfold by a capitalist development of space thought 
exclusively in terms of immediate profits. ---- Although the entire 
region has been affected, we will focus on the Boulogne region which 
offers us an overview from a privileged point.
The scientists convened for the occasion attested that natural factors 
played a role in amplifying the effects of undoubtedly exceptional 
precipitation: "proximity to the sea, topography, clayey or peaty soils, 
absence of steep slopes..."

It is still surprising that the rise in sea temperature in general, and 
the Channel in particular, has not generated more comments from these 
experts. To our knowledge, only Météo France has communicated on the 
subject, recalling that a proven increase of 3°C to 5°C in sea 
temperature in summer leads to greater evaporation, generating a mass of 
water available in the greater atmosphere and consequently intense 
rains. Intense, they were, since in one month the rainfall indicator of 
the Boulogne hinterland recorded a measurement of 428.8 mm instead of 
the 136 mm in normal times.

Reported to the flow rate of the main river in the area, there was also 
a significant increase: from 0.818 m3/s on average, we rose to 16.54 
m3/s in November. Another factor which, at first glance, would seem 
positive: the water tables were recharged like never before, but their 
saturation quickly contributed to the worsening of the phenomenon...

Let's now see what the different design choices are and their resulting 
consequences. By cross-referencing some data, we discover, with some 
dismay, that between the 1950s and today: the marshes, peat bogs, 
flood-prone meadows and ponds which occupied 70% of the regional 
territory now represent only 0. .8% ... These wetlands, on which nearly 
one in two animal species depend, filter and regulate water stocks and 
constitute the most effective means of preventing and combating 
flooding. Instead, retention basins were built, the capacities of which 
are considered largely insufficient by the mayors of the recently 
submerged municipalities. Once again, we are not questioning the causes 
of the disaster, we are urgently calling for the water to be channeled 
and stored in structures built for this purpose. A disastrous ecological 
and economic choice when we know that a single hectare of peat saves 
2,000 euros per year in concrete infrastructure expenses...

The "dome of precipitation"[1]which fell on Boulonnais highlighted the 
contradictory interests which clash when suddenly the machine stops.

First, those of the farmers whose farms were flooded. For the first 
time, they demonstrated at the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer to denounce the 
misuse of the lock with the aim of protecting boats in the pleasure 
basin from flooding... An argument immediately contested by an academic 
from Lille 3, interviewed by the regional press. He preferred, like the 
weather experts, to rely "on the exceptional phenomenon. " But still!?
Let us remember, however, that these farmers, often at the head of 
medium-sized farms, have never slowed down the destruction of the hedges 
of the Boulonnais bocage, nor the resale of their land to real estate 
developers who take away from their hideous subdivisions what remains. 
still a little alive countryside...

For their part, boaters can count on the support of the mayor of 
Boulogne-sur-Mer. Like many of his co-religionists, he is working hard 
to transform a city in the grip of deindustrialization into a tourist 
site of regional importance. For years, resources collected locally as 
well as subsidies collected from various sources have fueled projects 
that are reshaping the city in order to attract a wealthy Belgian 
clientele, tired of its concrete coastline inherited from the 1970s...

This is money that could have been used, among other things, to 
regularly clean and maintain the bed of the Liane, the river which 
crosses the town of Boulogne-sur-Mer. Silted up and silted up for a long 
time, the water that came out of its bed spread over the land of several 
municipalities upstream, as well as over the extent of the industrial 
zone to the south of the city... Here again, the town hall, the 
community of communes and the region pass the buck when it comes to 
financing the operation.

Also singled out by farmers and boatmen. Still according to them, the 
water level of the canals would have been kept too high in order to 
preserve navigation and economic activity. Voies Navigables de France 
denies this, claiming on the contrary to have lowered the level of the 
canals to 1.10 m. Regardless, several thousand residents in the region 
were affected by the floods. Nearly 1600 in Montreuillois alone.

Farmers' demonstration at the port of Boulogne-sur-mer

In the Boulogne area, as elsewhere in the department or region, several 
residential neighborhoods as well as business areas found themselves 
under water. The reasons for this are known and are exclusively economic 
and commercial. Housing estates were built in flood zones with full 
knowledge of the facts, in particular by the social landlord 
"Pas-de-Calais Habitat". For their part, mayors are hiding behind the 
housing crisis and the pressures they would be subjected to... But 
individuals with insufficient funds also take the risk of building in 
threatened areas, due to costs below the market.

As for manufacturers: they are adapting! We are not changing anything, 
we are continuing as before but in strict compliance with the standards 
set out in the new natural risk and flood prevention plan. Thus, in the 
commercial area to the south of the Boulogne area, the brand new Harley 
Davidson motorcycle dealership built its commercial hangar on immense 12 
m long concrete piles which spared it the disaster that afflicted its 
competitors. . Dentists, traders and lawyers disguised as Dennis 
Hopper[2]from an operetta will be able to continue to ride their 
machines for the space of a sunny Sunday on the Opal Coast, that is the 
main thing...

Xavier, Boulogne-sur-Mer,
17/12/2023

Notes
[1]We can no longer count the grotesque expressions and metaphors that 
journalists and politicians bombard us with every day on the air: from 
the "precipitation dome", to the "felt temperature", via the 
"eco-terrorist» without forgetting the very fashionable: "atmospheric 
Islamism"...

[2]Dennis Hopper is the director and main actor of Easy Rider, a cult 
1969 film in which he crosses the United States on a motorcycle with 
Peter Fonda.

http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4039
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