The France swept by the storm Xynthia

Solemn Mass in the cathedral of Luzon minute silence and flags at half mast, the Vendee reported Thursday a solemn tribute to victims of the storm Xynthia that left 53 dead, including 29 in the department, 79 injured and considerable damage. The Prime Minister Francois Fillon visited Luzon pay tribute to civil and participate in the Mass celebrated at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption with several personalities, including President of the Vendée Council, Philippe de Villiers. Almost 2,000 people attended the ceremony inside the building or even outside, through screens broadcasting. In his homily, the bishop of Vendee, Bishop Alain Castet, spoke of "the night anxiety "experienced by the victims' silence and the cold, the deployment of an unknown force and indiscriminate smashing (...) places of intimacy (...), bringing the death." Any the world is traumatized. Blame and The Sting, it's our heritage, "said Jacqueline, 86, came to the office.

End of search - At the ceremony, sirens and church bells rang throughout the department, the flags were lowered to half mast on public buildings. The ceremony included the funeral Limouzin Gilbert, 81 years, Suzanne Collona , 79, and Nicole Le Gallo, 65, found dead on the Vendée coast. Like them, many seniors were surprised by the water in the night from Saturday to Sunday: among the dead found in the area of Sin -sur-Mer, 15 people are over 75 years but also three children aged two, five and 10 years. In Charente-Maritime neighbor, who deplores killing 12, the storm also took at least five retired, and two children . A Guilt-sur-Mer, a small popular resort where many retirees reside, the ultimate research bodies have ceased in the late morning.

Prosecutions - Hundreds of people continue to clear and clean. The water level drop, but access for two lots remained difficult Thursday, according to firefighters. The victims are working in their homes devastated, life slowly resumed its course, the school reopened its doors Tuesday morning. Two squadrons of police continue to patrol to ensure security of the affected area and prevent theft.

Thursday morning, the Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux repeated until "the time of mobilization and solidarity" would "the lessons learned, particularly with regard to urbanization of flood zone. Asked about the possibility of criminal prosecution against some mayors, the interior minister replied: "It depends on situations." These are "very serious decisions," he said. "We need accurate analysis is to that there is an inspection, analysis "that has been established" so that light is made, "he added. Secretary of State for European Affairs, Pierre Lellouche, and European Commissioner, Johannes Hahn, in charge of Regional Policy, visited Thursday morning in Charente-Maritime and Vendee, to provide "concrete evidence" of the solidarity of the EU deal with this tragedy.

The municipalities of La Faute-sur-Mer and Osten-sur-mer, the most victimized by the storm had been classified as "shared risk" of Vendee in August 2005 for "risk of flooding with land human issue "and for the first," risk of flooding with sea challenge humans.