Cannes… after the storm

The taxi driver conveying me to the Palais de festivals where the internationally-acclaimed TV content market MIPCOM was taking place described it as “the apocalypse”. The second taxi driver taking me back to the hotel later on the same day gave me a guided tour of the city to show me the extent of the terror.

The scenes were indeed bizarre: cars crashed into walls, others stacked haphazardly on top of each other, inner lungs of stores destroyed, churches flooded and a dazed people trying to be normal after a day even they could not understand.

Dateline: Sunday the 4th of October 2015, a day after the freaky storm that tore the chic city of Cannes on the French Riviera apart. Described as the worst storm since 1947.

I had only just arrived the city. Yet another taxi driver unable to contain his emotions told me, “It was hell on Saturday and paradise on Sunday.” He explained in heavily-

accented English that it was difficult to believe it was the same city that looked quite ordinary and sunny the day after. C’est ne pas normal. Several deaths. People who had gone down to the car park at basements had been trapped by the water and drowned. He drove me past one such park.  Abandoned and broken cars littered the now ghostly park. A mini-cooper hanging on its side, a BMW rammed into a wall, its bonnet dented and half open, and three cars sitting gingerly on top of each other like art.

It could have been an artist’s idea of high art if it was not so macabre. The scenes looked like they were straight out of a horror movie. My heart was racing hard as the images made their way into my head and then into my heart.

“Mon Dieu!” I said to the taxi driver as soon as I could find my voice. He told me many tales of woe from the day before: many taxi drivers who lost their cars to the storm, many families mourning the dead and the missing. The water, he said somberly, was so strong and it destroyed everything in its wake.

We are having this conversation in Cannes and I am marvelling at how close I came to arriving on this black Saturday, the day of this bizarre and tragic flooding of the city. With the sun covering everything in a deep golden hue, one would think everyone was talking about a far-removed city that looked nothing like where we now travelled. There were too many tales, including that of a colleague flying into Cannes that afternoon and the plane in which she was travelling pulling in different directions like a kite. She was near tears as she described what it was like trying to land in Cannes on the day. The pilot was battling terrible weather.

The storm was so bad, it was felt in the skies, on land and at sea. Another colleague who had witnessed the storm told me it was nothing like he had ever seen before in his life. As we rode through the city, traffic became increasingly bad, roads were cordoned off to clean the murk that had formed a natural barrier. Mile-high mud, debris, grass, sea, sand had all come ashore. Many properties were destroyed by the angry sea and incredible winds.

As the city tried to come to terms with its losses, I watched as hardworking Islanders took to the streets, cleaning and restoring in order to get the city back to its touristic self. Tourism is what sustains the city.

Cannes, a resort town on the French Riviera, is synonymous with glamour, thanks to its world famous film festival. Its Boulevard de la croisette curving along the coast is lined with sandy beaches, upmarket boutiques and palatial hotels. It’s also home to the Palais de festivals, a modern building complete with red carpet and alle des stars – Cannes walk of the stars.

The storm continues to dominate conversations throughout Cannes.

President of the Alpes marine department tweeted: “We have lived through an apocalyptic situation that we have never experienced before.”

Cannes resident Ms Higan Shianona told the BBC “It was terrifying… The level of water was rising very quickly.”

Hundreds of visitors and tourists had slept at the Nice airport that Saturday. There simply was no way to leave. Thirty-two areas of the coast have now been declared natural disaster zones. As at Sunday, the day after, ten thousand homes still had no power supply mainly in Cannes, internet packed up and water was not running in most parts of the city.

The storm was scary, the city took a hit, people drowned and were carried away in floods. Beautiful city, dangerous waters, freaky weather.

It’s all quiet now, the sun is up… It’s as if it never happened, it’s been amazing weather, a day after that terrible storm in the alluring and enchanting city of Cannes.