Vincent Maquignon wandered through his devastated house. Mud all over the floor, objects hastily placed on the dining room table, traces of earth on the bay window overlooking the garden, the kitchen upside down. On the floor were scattered shoes that he hoped to dry, perhaps to save them. The dampness pierced the bones and the smell was strong. In front of his garage was a heap of objects and cut wood, household appliances and broken knick-knacks. His whole life in pieces.

After an initial flood of around 10 centimeters of water from November 6 to 8, a new wave invaded the entire neighborhood two days later, in the lower part of Blendecques in Northern France, a village of 5,200 inhabitants, near Saint-Omer.

"The water in the house rose to a height of 1.20 meters," said this 40-something team leader who works for the French navigation authority. Exhausted, he said he's "reached the point of no return. I don't even feel like repairing anything." His employer, who sensed that he was close to cracking, gave him a week's leave.

In this cul-de-sac squeezed between two branches of the River Aa, where the oldest residents experienced the 2002 flood, the damage has been considerable. Maquignon told us: "We're unprotected here. We're surrounded by river water, and construction machinery can't get through to shore up the banks. Nobody wants to keep their house here anymore, but what are they worth? Who will buy here now? We're stuck. I'm married to my house until I die."

During the first wave of flooding, this village in the Audomarois region held up relatively well, but the second wave damaged everything in the riverside neighborhoods. More than 400 houses were affected, and some river banks gave way. Some residents were evacuated by boat, the elderly were temporarily rehoused in an old people's residential facility (EHPAD), and everyone else has made do as best they can to find a temporary roof over their heads until their homes are habitable again.

'We'll be here for months'

Between October 16 and November 14, the Pas-de-Calais region experienced its wettest period since the French national weather service Météo-France began taking measurements in 1958. On Friday, November 17, 5,200 people were still suffering from drinking water restrictions, a situation that is expected to persist for several days. Over 100 households were still without electricity. Further rain was expected on Saturday evening, with the ground waterlogged and rivers slow to recede.

"We'll be here for months," said Jean-François, a little further down the Impasse Salengro. With his boots on and wearing a heavy navy blue sweater, he was walking in circles around his house. This sporty-looking 40-something (who declined to give his surname) was on edge. "Our insurance hasn't even advanced us any expenses. The flood hotline is unreachable. And there's no response on the secure messaging system. It's absurd." He had just received an automatic reply regarding the housing costs incurred to shelter his family: no reimbursement for six to eight weeks.

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