Following heavy rainfall, 192,000 people near the rivers Hem, Aa, Liane, and Canche in France are at risk of flooding, as reported by the French province of Pas-de-Calais on Wednesday.
Due to the flood risks, 74 schools in northern France will remain closed on Thursday and Friday.
Since the onset of the floods on Monday, firefighting teams have been called in for 860 missions. Drinking water supplies for 5,200 people have been cut off, and they have been provided with bottled water.
Around 60 homes have been submerged by the water. The national weather agency, Météo France, stated that the continuous rainfall has also caused small rivers in northern France to flood their banks.
Over the past 20 days, three times the usual amount of rainfall has fallen. In some areas, the rainfall over six days equaled the typical amount of rainfall for the entire month of November.
Aerial photos captured by the newspaper “La Voix du Nord” show large areas of land underwater.
