Rain and thunderstorms in Var: the situation gradually returns to normal in Le Lavandou

The situation was gradually returning to normal on Wednesday, May 21, in Le Lavandou, and clean-up operations continued in this coastal resort in the Var region, the day after torrential rains that claimed the lives of three people across the department . In Cavalière, the worst-hit area of ​​Le Lavandou, the sun has now returned, but mud is still omnipresent, journalists from Agence France-Presse (AFP) noted.

Traffic has been restored on the RD 559 coastal road, the Var prefecture explained to AFP. However, while traffic has resumed, it is only on a rotating basis and only for light vehicles, with trucks being forced to turn around. In the Cavalière area, a minimum of 25 firefighters will still be present on Wednesday, in order to "conduct reconnaissance, pumping, and clean-up operations," the Var firefighters told AFP.

The main concern Wednesday morning, with everyone's electricity back on, was the water supply, which municipal officials said was not expected to be restored until Sunday, as the water treatment plant was out of service.

Residents lined up in the village square in front of the tourist office to pick up bottles of mineral water or fill up at the fountain, using basins, jerrycans, or simple pots and pans. According to the town, a 25,000-liter tanker truck of drinking water is expected to arrive very soon to relieve the residents' needs.

While the landscape of Cavalière's main street has already changed considerably since Tuesday, when the mayor spoke of "war scenes" to describe the damage caused by the wave that swept through the Quicule stream, which had become a veritable torrent, traces of mud were still unmistakable on the ground floors of homes and businesses. And the damage sometimes came from the sky, as in this hotel whose roof terrace was suddenly transformed into a swimming pool, causing water to leak into several rooms.

The victims of the storms are three elderly people. In Le Lavandou, they are a couple: the body of the 84-year-old woman was found in the bushes, then that of her 85-year-old husband, offshore, in the sea. The third death is that of an 81-year-old woman in Vidauban.