Inside a temporary shelter in France for wildfire evacuees
Residents in southwest France are facing massive evacuations due to unprecedented wildfires that have consumed vast areas of land. The situation has forced thousands to flee their homes, with authorities struggling to contain the firestorm despite international assistance.
Why it matters
The scale of these evacuations and the intensity of the fires underscore the increasing threat of climate-driven natural disasters in Europe.
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BORDEAUX, France (AP) — The mobile phone alert message marked “URGENT” came with a beeeeeeep in the dead of night.
Suddenly awake, Morgane Bonichot scrambled. She grabbed her 9-year-old daughter, their rabbit and their dog but didn’t think to pack underwear.
The 40-year-old childcare worker found herself swept up in one of the biggest evacuations Europe has seen since World War II, forced with more than 220,000 other people to flee a monster wildfire in southwest France that has consumed an area four times the size of Paris and is defying a massive effort, involving a dozen countries , to bring it under control.
In hindsight, Bonichot thinks maybe she should have seen it coming.
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