VIDEO. Crue de la Garonne in Toulouse: wrecked waterfront restaurants
On the Ile du Ramier, a price between the two arms of the Garonne, water and mud have submerged everything. The Rowing restaurant is devastated, as are the tennis courts and the rowing club. At the Seven Deniers, the Gardens of Olympus were also flooded.
Desolation. As always in floods, it is when the water recedes that we see the extent of the damage. And on the Ile du Ramier price between the two arms of the Garonne, in the heart of Toulouse, they are considerable. Around the islet of Banlève at the northern point which looks at the Saint-Michel bridge, mud and earth have invaded everything. On the doorstep of the Rowing restaurant, John, the manager of the establishment is still in shock. In the evening of Monday, a little after 10 pm, it is a real torrent which descended from the threshold of the nearby Ramier. “In a few minutes, the water rose 60 centimeters,” he says. On a lost whole. The floors, the plasterboard walls, the floors of the outside terrace are screwed up and all the electricity is out of order. everything has to be redone “…
Since its installation, 5 years ago, it had never seen this and the last flood in December, which showed a peak at 3.50 meters, had no learning of such overflows. This time around, with a peak measured at 4.31 meters just below the 4.38 meters of June 2000, and tied with the 4.31 meters of 1977, the worst has happened. “I do not know when we can reopen the establishment, but it will probably take several months,” said John who will have to put 14 employees out of work. At this stage, it is not certain that the restaurant can ensure the summer season.
“I don’t know when we can reopen the restaurant. It will undoubtedly take several months ”…
In the middle of the shovels directing the surroundings, the person in charge of the tennis courts is also shot. “The devastated land, even the covered bubble will have to be, I have no more work” … The 130 kids who attend the club have to go to train elsewhere while waiting for the courses to be redone. But since a rehabilitation was planned as part of the Grand Parc Garonne project, they will probably not be renovated temporarily. This risks lengthening the deadlines. Without any real alternative. At the neighboring rowing club, the worry is less. It will just take a big cleaning. Here, boats and equipment are made for the water. As for the Nautical Emulation restaurant, its elevated construction saved it from the fury of the Garonne. But the fences did not resist. Now is the time for expert appraisals. And it is still too early to quantify the cost of claims.
On the scale of Toulouse, in addition to the restaurants on the banks of the river, some homes were directly inundated by the rise in water, by the rise of the water table in the cellars or finally by the backflow of the Garonne into the networks, in particular in the Ginestous sector where the Jardins de l’Olympe were also inundated. Some Stadium facilities were also impacted. For the services of the town hall of Toulouse, it is not possible, for the moment, to make an accurate assessment of the damage and repairs to be expected, as long as all the damage has not been identified. A chosen one is sure, in recent years the number of annual floods which can range from one to eight, as in 2013, a tendency to increase. And according to forecasters, it is very likely that global warming will lead to the intensification of the phenomenon. The constructions along the Garonne will have to take this into account …