Zach Crawford
Friday FenyonIzer stream, It wiped out part of the village of La BerardIt is located at an altitude of 1727 meters above sea level in the municipality Saint-Christophe-en-Ouissantin the heart of the Écrins massif.
Pictures and videos are shown coming from the valley Houses were buried and roads destroyed They strike many climbers, mountaineers and mountain lovers who consider these areas a real Mecca.
For La Bérarde, the situation is catastrophic: Aerial reconnaissance carried out on Saturday 22 June showed that the new bed of the Étançons stream had been destroyed It destroyed the town center, sweeping away several houses, and destroying the church. In the face of such a horrific scene, it is a matter of solace to know that the immediate intervention of the Alpine Rescue Team, by land and air, allowed the immediate evacuation of dangerous areas and ensured that there were no injured or missing people.
It takes a rescue operation of this magnitude to be carried out Many round trips by four helicopters. Friday evening, all were affected They were welcomed at the tourist resort of Les Deux-Alpes, hosted by the city's Sports Palace, About ten kilometers as the crow flies from La Bérarde.
It is a disaster caused by heavy rainfall, but not only that, secondly Guy Vernet, Head of the Municipalities of Ouisan State“We talked a lot about rain, but with global warming the snow is melting a lot and that makes things worse,” he says. Melting snow increases the size of streams and contributes to these devastating floods“.
Ecrins National Park He issued a statement to determine the extent of the problem: “The situation in the mountain range is currently very complex, with many roads leading to it closed. In Vignon, the village of La Berard was flooded. All residents of the village and the shelters of Chatellerette, Karelet and the Temple of Ecrin were evacuated by air. Access by road to Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans and La Bérarde is also impossible until further notice. The situation is the same in Valgoudmar, Champseur and Chomet. In the Briançonnais region, it is impossible to reach the Petit Tabuc and Grand Tabuc valleys: The slopes were washed away and the local authority banned vehicle and pedestrian traffic in these two valleys“.
Moreover, local authorities issued decrees Blocking access to the Haut Vénéon-La Bérarde disaster area Because of the risks to people (buildings prone to collapse, impossibility of crossing water courses, etc.).
Mountains are on the front lines of climate change: If previously only scientific reports informed us, now there are also photos and videos that periodically invade the homes of our social networks. Heavy rainfall increases the risk of floods and landslides, with clear and dramatic impacts, and the future will bring increasingly complex situations for us to manage.
Valerie Pommierfounder of the association Mountains of resilienceWhich deals with protecting the mountain environment and detecting the effects of climate change on it: “If we try to postpone mitigation for a long time – by mitigation we mean the measures necessary to address the underlying problem, and to slow or stop climate change.” Increasing fossil fuel emissions, which threaten to cause a catastrophic and irreversible increase in global temperatures – we will no longer be able to talk about adaptation, and investors will no longer have to finance projects in mountainous regions. Mountains are gone, it is certain that without changing paradigms , everything will be completed more quickly. Mountain villages are the furthest in terms of time and kilometers for food supplies and relief.”.
Laurence Malcom
