Two hundred thousand people have been evacuated from their homes in France’s Gironde and Landes regions as wildfires continue to burn out of control. Some 7,000 people have taken refuge in the huge exhibition center in Bordeaux, which itself is shrouded in smoke carried into the city by fickle winds.
Many of those now sleeping in beds with their children and pets were awakened in their homes west of Bordeaux early Friday morning by emergency text alerts on their phones urging them to evacuate immediately.
They have no prospect of returning home any time soon.
Sitting next to her young children and dog, Wendy says the worst part is she doesn’t know how long she and her family will have to stay. She told CNN how difficult it was to remain calm.
“We’re being taken care of very well,” she said, “but we don’t know exactly why we’re here—whether it’s because of the smoke or because the flames are actually threatening our homes. And we don’t know how long we’ll be here.”
Every now and then, a lost child is reunited with his family through the public address system – a reminder of how vast the exhibition hall is, where thousands of families are sheltered and fed.
At a nearby folding table, Christophe explained how he was first awakened by an alarm before police climbed over his wall and knocked on his door at 6am. He insisted on visiting his neighbors, who are well into their nineties, but, as he explained, this takes time.
“I had a bag ready,” he said, “but they didn’t have anything prepared, so we had to pack their things and medications because they are diabetic.”
Christophe is impressed by the logistics What officials are calling the largest evacuation France has seen since World War II.
“We’ve never known war,” he said, “and we’ve had disasters and fires before, but nothing like this.”