Rebuilding and Recovery: One Year After the Tornado Ravaged Bihucourt

The storm ravaged facades, roofs and even entire houses in this small town in Pas-de-Calais, where the memory of the disaster is deeply rooted.

It was a year ago. On October 23, 2022, the village of Bihucourt (Pas-de-Calais) was crossed by a tornado.

“It’s a very sad anniversary. (…) We still have a lot of scars from this tornado in the streets. Pylons are still down, the landscape has changed and today, residents are trying to rebuild their homes “They are trying to rebuild themselves mentally and psychologically,” declared Jean-Jacques Cottel, mayor of Bapaume and president of the Sud Artois community of communes, on BFM Grand Lille this Monday, October 23.

“My health has taken a big hit over the past year”

In Bihucourt, a town of 300 inhabitants, 90 houses were damaged, including 48 made completely uninhabitable. Facades, roofs, entire structures… Although reconstruction has started, the work is long and tiring for the residents. This is particularly the case of Patrice, whose home is completely uninhabitable.

“It started in July: the plasterer came to redo the ceilings, redo the parquet floors, the rooms and the roof. (In the village) we only talk about that, we only live from that. My health is taking a hit a real blow for a year. We’re fed up”, Pascal, resident of Bihucourt.

“A case-by-case negotiation”

Like Pascal, several families are still relocated to neighboring communities. Since the compensation provided by the insurance companies is only expected to last one year, these affected residents are now wondering if they will have to pay for replacement housing out of their own pocket.

The town hall, the prefecture and the president of the Sud Artois community of communes ensure that they are monitoring this situation closely. An exchange took place a few days ago.

“We are in a case-by-case negotiation,” indicates Jean-Jacques Cottel, mayor of Bapaume and president of the Sud Artois community of communes.

He adds: “Legally, we are in a private law contract between an insurer and a resident. Today, we are trying to review with the prefecture and the insurers individually what they can put in place to allow people to stay outside before being able to return to Bihucourt”.

Jean-Jacques Cottel recalls that the community of municipalities notably helped with the clearance of waste as well as the replacement of the municipality’s equipment, for a cost of around 150,000 euros.

A collection was launched by the association of mayors of Pas-de-Calais. The sum of 196,000 euros will be distributed, during a meeting which will take place on October 27, between three municipalities hit by the tornado: Bihucourt, Cagnicourt and Récourt.

On October 23, 2022, the tornado had traveled at least 147 kilometers between the Somme, Belgian Hainaut, Nord and Pas-de-Calais. In the latter department, gusts of wind that could reach up to 270 km/h had crossed an area of ​​20 kilometers.