PUNISHMENT FOR FRANCE FLOOD DISASTER Actions by local governments are a critical factor when it comes to reducing -- or increasing -- the risk of a disaster. Strengthening governance to manage risk is one of the priorities of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Allowing construction on low-lying land due to demand for property development can ultimately prove deadly in coastal communities whose sea defences are not up to scratch. That fact was brought home starkly in France in 2010 when Storm Xynthia struck the Atlantic town of La Faute-sur-Mer. The sea walls failed, and 29 people perished, many of them elderly individuals who were trapped in their homes. The disaster became a symbol of courtroom attempts to establish legal responsibility and accountability in a disaster risk. The local mayor, René Marratier, was convicted of manslaughter and endangering the lives of the public. In December 2014, he was sentenced to four years in prison, with the court being told that the tragedy could have been avoided if he and the town hall deputy mayor responsible for planning, Françoise Babin, had not concealed flood risks to allow building permits to be issued in a breakneck urbanisation drive. The mayor's defence team argued that four years behind bars was unprecedented and disproportionate. The previous maximum sentence handed down to a French mayor for manslaughter in such circumstances had been 10 months suspended. This week, an appeals court cut René Marratier's term to a two-year suspended sentence, and upheld a ban on his holding public office. Seventeen million of France’s 67 million people live in areas at risk from overflowing streams and rivers, and 1.5 million in zones threatened by sea-water flooding, according to government figures. The country announced a new flood awareness plan last month. Click here for the verdict: http://goo.gl/5rBSVP And here for more details on the case, in French: http://ow.ly/10jA61 And here for information on the food awareness plan: https://www.unisdr.org/archive/48335
