A death and many damages after violent storms in New Aquitaine

Les Wednesday's thunderstorms, accompanied by hailstones as large as tennis balls, have caused serious damage in New Aquitaine, where 136,000 households remained without electricity on Thursday morning and a man was killed by the fall of a tree. [19659004] Trees on the railway tracks, electric wires on the ground, hundreds of roofs and vehicles pounded by hailstones … the inhabitants of several departments of the Southwest were recovering with difficulty from this short stormy episode.

"We have always no less than 136,000 customers cut in the Dordogne, Lot-et-Garonne (8,000), Gironde (12,000), Corrèze (26,000), Haute-Vienne (12,000) and Poitou-Charentes (3,000) ", told AFP Xavier Salon, director of communication at Enedis Aquitaine Nord.

"There is severe damage, thunderstorms were exceptionally violent, "according to Mr. Salon, stating that poles had been broken, mainly because of trees felled by the weather.

Enedis planned to make a point in the mid day to badess the return to normal which was especially problematic in the Dordogne, where up to 110,000 households were deprived of electricity Wednesday.

"This department experienced an exceptional phenomenon: there had not been this kind of storm for ten years (…) The diagnosis is still ongoing," said Mr. Salon.

About 350 technicians were on the ground and human and material reinforcements from neighboring regions were expected in the early afternoon, mainly to the Dordogne and neighboring Corrèze. A control of the overhead power lines was also carried out by helicopter "to accelerate the diagnostic phase."

Winds up to 120 km / h and heavy rainfall fell on Wednesday around 17:00 in the Dordogne, affecting 135 municipalities. Thursday late morning, 375 interventions had been completed and 65 were in progress. Traffic was still cut off on five departmental roads.

– Psychological cell –

At a cyclo-tourism rally, a 64-year-old cyclist from Loire-Atlantique died after being injured by the fall of a tree in a park in Objat (Corrèze)

In Charente, also vigilant orange Wednesday, 800 houses were damaged, that is to say 80.000 m2 of roof which resembled for the most part real Gruyères. The windows of cars have completely exploded under the force of hailstones as big as tennis balls.

A few dozen victims have been sheltered for the night in two gymnasiums opened by the help.

In Saint-Sornin, one of the Most affected communes north of Angouleme, an operational command post (PCO) was installed in the village hall and a psychological cell has already welcomed 22 people, shocked by the violence of the storms. Seven people were slightly injured "by small falls," said the chief of staff of the prefecture of Charente, Kiymet Akpinar. They are probably mounted on their roof to seal the damage.

From 200 to 250 firefighters were hard at work responding to the 700 registered relief requests. They had made about 200 interventions Thursday morning, mainly in the areas of Saint-Sornin and Chabanais where six municipalities were very affected.

On the rail side, traffic was mainly suspended south of Bordeaux and in the Dordogne because of falling trees on many lines. It was gradually resumed Thursday with various delays and train deletions, according to the SNCF.

No train ran between Brive and Limoges because of cutting trees, and between Périgueux and Agen to check if the tracks were cleared . Substitute buses have been introduced

afp