Français
Rain, lots of rain. This was one of the causes of the incident that occurred late morning on Friday, July 19. In the space of a few seconds, at the entrance to the road leading to Vitet, just after the Quatre vents crossroads, a landslide swept tons of earth and imposing concrete blocks onto the roadway. Fortunately, there were no casualties. Fortunately, there were no casualties, as just moments before the road was covered in tons of debris, traffic was still moving along it. Since then, however, the road has been closed to all traffic. The road is now closed to all traffic, until it can be cleared and, above all, until the foundations of the house overhanging it can be made safe.
A danger order
Heavy rainfall caused a landslide at the entrance to the Route de Vitet on Friday, July 19.
For the time being, the Collectivité has issued an arrêté de péril for the suspended residence. The owner of the house has eight days in which to take action, failing which the Collectivité will take over," explains president Xavier Lédée. Experts were quickly called in to assess the dangers and the measures to be taken as a matter of urgency. For the moment," adds Xavier Lédée, "no date has been set for the opening of the road. Everything is being done to ensure that it happens as soon as possible. It could be in a week's time. But the urgent thing is to make sure that the house doesn't fall onto the road. That's also why it hasn't yet been cleared. We're not going to put crews at risk. "In a press release issued this Thursday afternoon, Xavier Lédée indicated that "the safety work is substantial and should be spread over the next two months". He added that traffic will remain banned for the duration of the work.
All the tenants living in the house - of whom there are 25 - have received a notice forbidding them to move back in until the security work has been completed. It seems that a hotel staff was occupying the accommodation until the landslide. They have all been temporarily or permanently relocated to another address.
The reaction of local residents to the incident was undoubtedly a lifesaver. In fact, several people immediately set about marking out the road and stopping vehicles in traffic to prevent a tragedy. In the minutes that followed, a team from the Collectivité's technical services, the local police, the gendarmerie and a construction company took over the disaster area.
While the heavy rainfall that had fallen on Saint-Barthélemy during the night and in the preceding hours was obviously the cause of the incident, many questions were asked about the quality of the construction and earthworks. The analyses carried out by the experts called in by the Collectivité will no doubt provide answers to these questions. As for the residents of Vitet and Devet, they will have to be patient. Indeed, until absolute certainty has been established that there is no danger of collapse, the road will remain closed. In the meantime, the Trois Forces asphalt will be put to the test, with traffic levels at their heaviest since the Camaruche road was closed for roadworks.
In addition, the President of the Collectivité has announced that from Monday, July 29, part of the Marigot road will be closed for a week to carry out "essential" road and network works.
