Saône-et-Loire. Micro-burst: homes still without power, poles down, Laives lake closed... the day after

What turned out to be a micro-burst crossed the Chalonnais and Bresse regions this Sunday afternoon. The damage was still significant on Monday.

Many roofs were affected, like that of Nicolas and Gladys in Ouroux-sur-Saône. They lost part of their roof because the branches of a walnut tree were thrown onto it by the wind. Since then, water has seeped into the attic. They are waiting for insurance before removing the branches. Even their car was damaged by the hailstones. "It was the apocalypse," confides Nicolas, who was away from home with his partner during the storm.

Enedis teams are still working this Monday to restore power to 3,100 customers who were still without electricity at 8 a.m. The affected communities are those around Chalon and Louhans. Residents of Saint-Cyr, for example, spent another night without electricity. In Ouroux-sur-Saône, electricity still had not returned as of 11 a.m.

The cause was trees that fell on power lines and fallen poles. About thirty of the latter still need to be replaced. At the height of the power outage, 36,000 people were left without electricity, and some were even without mobile network.

Significant damage between La Ferté and Laives, with blocked roads and electrical cables obstructing the ground, was still visible this Monday morning. Lake Laives is therefore closed again while ONF loggers and tree surgeons intervene.

In Varennes-le-Grand, departmental officials are working to repair the famous plastic barriers on the departmental road. They had all been moved.

On D978 between Simard and Louhans, road and infrastructure department (DRI) officers are clearing trees and branches that fell during the storm. They worked from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Sunday and resumed work at 6:30 a.m. on Monday.

Several roofs have been damaged in Ouroux-sur-Saône, particularly in the town near the cemetery, where firefighters from Chalon and Verdun are responding this Monday morning. Already this Sunday, 287 interventions were recorded for the Saône-et-Loire firefighters, mainly for fallen trees or torn-off roofs.

In Ouroux-sur-Saône, tree climbers are clearing and trimming branches from a large tree that have fallen onto the roadway that runs through the town. They are also trimming branches that are still threatening to fall at the top of the tree.