Question 41930 — natural disasters

Summary

Mr. Daniel Labaronne draws the attention of the Minister of the Interior to the problem of ineligibility of certain recurring climatic phenomena in mainland France for the natural disaster procedure. In June 2021, the town of Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil suffered a mini-tornado on its territory. The damage was very significant for its inhabitants. The bell tower collapsed, the roof of the village hall was torn off and the town hall was also affected. Several residents saw their vehicles flying away. The portion of the D 35 road crossing the town has been closed. However, in August 2021, the decision was made: the state of natural disaster could not be recognized. For what ? Because, today, damage caused by cyclonic winds only falls within the scope of this guarantee when it meets the characteristics set by Article L. 122-7 of the Insurance Code, that is to say when the maximum surface winds recorded or estimated in the disaster area have reached or exceeded 145 km/h on average over ten minutes or 215 km/h in gusts. However, these criteria correspond to cyclones of category 4 or beyond, which limits the scope of this guarantee to overseas departments and communities, located in tropical zones and exposed to cyclonic risk. Yet, tornadoes and high-intensity storms, sometimes accompanied by hail, are no longer rare phenomena in the country. There are now several dozen produced per year. The damage is still significant: uprooted trees, fractured roads, outdoor furniture and thrown construction materials. But if the state of natural disaster is not recognized, then this damage is not taken into account by insurers and people victims are harmed. This is why in the face of increasingly frequent climatic upheavals, he would like him to indicate how he intends to review the criteria for classifying abnormal episodes as natural disasters throughout the national territory, particularly with regard to windy phenomena, and to ask him more generally about the actions he intends to implement in this area.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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