Aude, Var, Vendée, Alpes-Maritimes, Pas de Calais, Moselle… a deluge of disaster images on our screens. One exception, however, went virtually unnoticed: the CITY OF PETITE-ROSSELLE.

Emergency and Prevention: although the last floods caused by the Rosselle River date back to 1992, in 2012 the commune of Petite-Rosselle equipped itself with a Water-Gate© mobile flexible dike. The riverbanks were then renaturalized and secured, concentrating the flood risk on either side of the Saar border bridge.

On Friday May 17, 2024, at around 4:00 pm, municipal employees installed the flexible dam in just a few minutes, after removing the railings on the bridge that could have been an obstacle to the flooding.

The guardrails are removed to prevent ice jams on the bridge – Photo Lucien Freytag

The inflatable dam is designed to fill with water and prevent the water from spreading through the streets of the commune – Photo Lucien Freytag

During the night, the bridge was covered by about 40cm of water. Without this protective measure, the entire city center would have been flooded.

The water level fell very quickly. The bridge was reopened to traffic in the early afternoon of Saturday May 18.

In addition to the satisfaction of seeing that the investment made in Water-Gate© in 2012 has paid off, Unfortunately, I’ve noticed that large metropolitan areas are much less concerned about protecting their citizens: an oversight? resignation…?

In the wake of the major floods of 1910 and 1924, the French government began building flood protection walls along the banks of the Seine. These walls are now in poor condition, and the cofferdams blocking the narrow accesses have long since disappeared.

Anti-flood wall at 2 quai François Mitterand, Paris. There is no provision for a cofferdam.

And the bridges are not protected…

Pont de l’Archevéché – January 28, 1910

Solferino Bridge – January 1910

However, various active flood protection systems do exist: take up arms, citizens! Form your battalions!