The prefecture, for whom the situation remains “worrying” in and around Pointe-à-Pitre, has counted 61 interventions for 35 rescued people.
Le Monde with AFP
A man died in Guadeloupe after the exceptional precipitation that touched the island on the night of Friday 29 to Saturday 30 April. The man was found dead in his vehicle, immersed in a pond due to the rise of waters, in a flooded district of the commune of Abymes, noted a correspondent of the France-Presse agency (AFP).
The prefecture, for whom the situation remains “worrying” in and around Pointe-à-Pitre, counted in a press release published at 1:30 p.m. (7 p.m. 30 in mainland France) 61 interventions for 35 rescued people. Fifty firefighters were mobilized.
The exceptional precipitation that touched Pointe-à-Pitre, the Abymes and the Gosier started in the middle of the night, at one o’clock in the morning (7 hours in mainland France). “Pluviometry exceeded 300 mm, a phenomenon higher than that recorded during the Maria cyclone” in 2017, underlined the prefecture in a previous press release.
many roads cut to traffic
These rains caused “a breakdown in electricity supply and difficulties in the distribution of water”, but also the flood of Pointe-à-Pitre roads and landslides in the Grand Funds, in the center From Grande-Terre, adds the prefecture, which asks the Guadeloupeans not to move to the Pointe-à-Pitre region and not go hiking in the mountains.
Furthermore, “trips must remain limited on the rest of Guadeloupe”, especially since “new precipitation is expected in the afternoon”. “The vigilance remains in order and the orange alert is maintained,” says the prefecture.
The island had been passed in red vigilance for heavy rains and thunderstorms at the end of the night by Météo France, which then turned it into orange vigilance with the lull.
While the decrease was started, many roads remained cut to traffic, including on main axes, forcing certain motorists to turn around and to drive in the wrong way on fast tracks.
Almost everywhere on the areas affected by floods, cars drowned during the night by rising waters awaited the tow trucks, and many car debris (registration plates, mudguards, etc.) littered the Roads. On three axes, traffic is reserved for intervention vehicles.