In Aiguillon up to Jusix, not forgetting downstream Gironde and upstream Lot-et-Garonne, the 12 days of flooding have caused significant damage throughout the Garonne Valley. While affected residents clean up the mud in their gardens and homes, the army arrived to assist on Monday, February 23, 2026, at the request of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu. Their mission: to help the many affected farmers with their cleaning operations.
The first projects around Aiguillon
Since the beginning of the week, Karine Duc, president of the Chamber of Agriculture of Lot-et-Garonne, has been on the front lines with farmers in about a hundred cleaning sites.
“We don’t stop turning,” she explains over the phone, in constant mobilization with her colleagues to support the firefighters, the army, and the civil security. Their role is to facilitate their work.
At the beginning of the week, efforts were focused primarily around Aiguillon, in the Confluence area between the Lot and the Garonne rivers, heavily impacted by the breach of several dikes where the water receded first.
“Without a pun, it’s a work in parallel with the water,” details the president. “In Marmandais, the waters are slowly receding, making it difficult to assess the situation.”
Still, the lands in Marmandais are saturated with water, some still submerged, making immediate cleaning work impossible.
The main goal: to “free up the essential equipment for the survival of the crops.” Ensuring the survival of the crops will be a major challenge in the coming weeks and months for farmers.
Catastrophic damage assessment is ongoing
Although a state of natural disaster was declared in 63 Lot-et-Garonne municipalities, the Chamber president is closely monitoring the situation of uninsured farmers. Urgent financial assistance requests will need to be made for agricultural losses and emergencies.
The estimated damage assessment could be released by the end of the week.
In addition to the cleaning operations, the Chamber of Agriculture members are also drawing attention to the need to reinforce and repair the dikes quickly, to prevent further flooding caused by the melting snow in the Pyrenees.
Behind this, the fear in the agricultural world is the potential waste of energy and resources in this post-flood cleanup.
