"You noticed it was raining": Storms cause water leak during debate in the National Assembly

While MPs debated the war between Iran and Israel on Wednesday, June 25, a completely different topic of news was discussed in the chamber for a few minutes. The topic of intense rain and violent storms that hit France in the evening, before continuing into the night.

The National Assembly, too, was flooded. As he finished his opening speech at this session devoted to the Near and Middle East, Prime Minister François Bayrou looked upwards before addressing the Vice-President of the National Assembly, Roland Lescure: "Did you notice it was raining?"

The person concerned's response: "I just saw him, Mr. Prime Minister. I was told that the chamber was watertight, but apparently..."

This Renaissance member and former Minister Delegate for Industry then announced a suspension of the session "while the firefighters come to assess everything." Before explaining when it resumed, about fifteen minutes later:

"This incident was obviously caused by the torrential rain that hit Paris. We had a small leak up there, which resulted in the installation of absorbent mats to prevent it from happening again."

Pointing out that a carpet had also been put in place at the level of the various speakers' platforms, Roland Lescure concluded with a touch of humor: "Thank you for having wiped the plaster off, if I may say so, Mr. Prime Minister."

Apparently, the hemicycle wasn't the only part of the Palais Bourbon to have been affected. "Slabs of the ceiling of the refreshment bar" of the National Assembly "were lifted," said journalist Hugo Couturier, who hosts the Twitch channel "HugoAuPerchoir," with photos to support his claim.

At the conference room level, "the glass roof is damaged," also reported MP Alexis Corbière, a former rebel who is now part of the Green group in the Assembly.

Following last night's violent storms, two people died: a 12-year-old boy in Tarn-et-Garonne and a man in Mayenne, according to the latest civil security report. Four people are in critical condition and 13 are in relative emergency. Furthermore, 100,000 homes were without power this Thursday morning.