Storm Benjamin: More than 45,000 Homes without Electricity in Nouvelle Aquitaine, Wind Gusts of up to 142 km/h in Charente-Maritime
This morning at 8.30am, Enedis already recorded more than 100,000 homes without electricity in France due to storm Benjamin
This morning at 8:30 a.m., Enedis already recorded more than 100,000 homes without electricity in France due to the high winds caused by storm Benjamin. Nouvelle-Aquitaine is the most affected region with 45,000 households affected, closely followed by Burgundy-Franche-Comté and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
The wind blew at more than 100 km/h over a large part of France on Thursday morning with the passage of autumn storm Benjamin, described as “strong” by Météo-France which placed 19 departments on orange alert.
The institute recorded peaks of 116 km/h in Sainte-Marie-des-Monts (Manche), 119 km/h in Vernines (Puy-de-Dôme), 142 km/h in Saint-Clément-des-Baleines on the Ile de Ré (Charente-Maritime), 132 km/h at Cap Ferret (Gironde) and 94 km/hh in Bordeaux-Mérignac inland.
Orange alert for strong winds until Thursday evening
Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Seine-Maritime, Manche, Vendée, Deux-Sèvres, Charente-Maritime, Charente, Gironde, Landes, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Aude, Pyrénées-Orientales, Alpes-Maritimes and the two departments of Corsica.
The Tramontane must strengthen in the morning in Aude and the Pyrénées-Orientales, before weakening, while gusts will reach 160 to 170 km/h on Cap Corse in the afternoon. This windy episode is due to end next night, according to Météo-France.
Vigilance orange wave-submersion and flooding
On the coasts of Gironde, Landes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques, as well as in Seine-Maritime, these strong winds generate “very strong waves and a temporary rise in sea level”, adds the institute, which has placed these four departments on orange wave-submersion flood alert.
READ MORE: Charente goes on orange alert, Angoulême-Saintes trains canceled this Thursday
In Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), the town hall called on the population “to exercise great caution in the face of the danger of this strong swell”, the peak of which is expected in the afternoon. Two lines of “big bags”, large bags filled with sand, were set up on the city’s large beach to contain the breaking waves and protect buildings.
Access to several beaches in Anglet, Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Hendaye in the same department has been prohibited.
Orange rain-flood alert
Finally, Corrèze and Cantal are on orange rain-flood alert.
Faced with bad weather, the SNCF announced that TER train traffic would be suspended on certain lines on Thursday and traffic speeds reduced on others, even if high-speed trains will run.
In Bordeaux, gardens and cemeteries were closed by the city and the opening of the city center funfair was postponed until the afternoon.
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