The violent storms of hail which fell on Saturday in the West caused big damages in the vineyards of Bordeaux and Charente.
The violent storms of hail which fell on Saturday 26th May, 2018 on the western side of the country aroused many interventions of the firemen and caused big damages in the vineyards of Bordeaux and Charente .
For the Gironde, one of the most affected departments where many shops and houses were flooded, “no casualties” , 366 requests for interventions from firefighters including 325 in the Bordeaux area, “tweeted at the beginning of evening the prefecture.
Bilan de l’orage en #Gironde : aucune victime à déplorer. 366 demandes d’interventions des sapeurs pompiers dont 325 sur l’agglomération bordelaise. 50 interventions en cours. De nombreuses maisons et magasins inondés notamment dans le centre commercial de Mériadeck #bordeaux
— Préfet de Nouvelle-Aquitaine, préfet de la Gironde (@PrefAquitaine33) May 26, 2018
Flooded and jagged vines
The heavy hailstorms which hit the whole department for about ten minutes at midday caused “great damage on several thousand hectares” of flooded and jagged vines, especially in the vineyards of appellations Côtes Blaye and Côtes de Bourg (northern department), but also in the Haut-Médoc north of Bordeaux, told AFP Bernard Farges, vice president of the Interprofessional Council of Bordeaux wine (CIVB).
The CIVB will prepare a more accurate and complete inventory of Bordeaux vineyards on Monday, said his vice president.
The same goes for the Cognac vineyard, where hail “has done a lot of damage in some places,” Jean-Bernard de Larquier, director of the winegrowers’ syndicate in the Cognac appellation, said.
The hail mainly hit the vineyards of Charente-Maritime, and part of the vineyard in Charente.
Cognac vines also affected
According to the first returns of winemakers he received, “the municipalities around Jonzac in Charente-Maritime have suffered a lot.”
As in Bordeaux, “it is much too early to give figures, but we will have a more precise idea Monday,” according to Jean-Bernard de Larquier
At the National Assembly where he defended his bill, the Minister of Agriculture, Stéphane Travert said he had “of course the call” of several deputies who arrested him on hail storms.
We will take the necessary measures, we will meet if necessary the vineyard of Bordeaux.
Once the details of the damage are known, the government will examine, he added, “what measures we can provide and what support we can put in place”.
Lesser damage in Brittany where the heavy rains that fell for almost an hour in the early afternoon on the Vannes agglomeration, caused about twenty interventions by firefighters for flooded cellars, without other major damage .
More hail Sunday
For Sunday, forecasts predict an unstable weather over most of the country, with strong thunderstorms and hail to fear during the day, including the Pyrenees to Normandy.
From Brittany to Vendée, the sky will be cloudy but the weather will be dry in the afternoon. From Languedoc-Roussillon and the Alps to the North-East, bright spells but thunderstorms will be possible locally, according to Meteo France.
