On Wednesday night, a series of violent storms swept through France, leaving a path of destruction and cutting off power to almost 100,000 homes by Thursday morning, June 26. Enedis, the company that runs the country’s power grid, says that strong winds, heavy rain, and hail that hit the country’s infrastructure caused the outages.
A Crazy Night
The storms brought winds of up to 120 km/h, heavy rain, and even hail in some places. There were dramatic scenes all over the country, including in Paris. Fallen trees and branches caused a lot of damage to power lines, and a shocking video that was shared on social media showed high-voltage pylons lying in a field in Loir-et-Cher.
Worst-Hit Regions and Number of Homes Affected
| Region | Homes Without Power |
|---|---|
| Auvergne & Nord Midi Pyrénées | 27,000 |
| Centre-Val de Loire | 12,000 |
| Bourgogne | 10,500 |
| Limousin | 10,000 |
A Race to Get Power Back
Enedis said that its technicians got to work as soon as it was safe, working through the night and into Thursday morning to fix the broken grid. The company has sent its Rapid Electricity Intervention Force (FIRE) to the hardest-hit areas to help local teams. This means that dozens of extra workers are now on the ground. Enedis, on the other hand, said that it could take a while to restore power in some areas because it is hard to get to them, which makes repairs more difficult.
Remote Recovery and Challenges
Enedis is also using remote operations to reroute power and restore electricity to as many homes as possible, as quickly as possible, in addition to repairs on the ground. For now, thousands of families are still waiting, dealing with the effects of a storm that changed France’s landscape and power network forever.