AFP Videos – France
Storms and rain: 12 departments in the south-east and centre on orange alert
Twelve departments in the south-east and centre were placed on orange alert on Wednesday for violent storms and heavy rain expected in the evening and overnight, Météo France announced. Bouches-du-Rhône, Gard, Vaucluse, Alpes-Maritimes and Var were placed on orange alert for storms and rain-flooding. In the centre, the departments of Yonne, Nièvre, Saône-et-Loire, Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Loire and Haute-Loire are concerned for rain-flooding. “The stormy situation requires special attention as there is a significant risk of violent phenomena,” the meteorological institute wrote in its latest bulletin. “This (Wednesday) evening and next night, stormy rain will continue to affect the Mediterranean departments from Gard to Alpes-Maritimes. They will sometimes be intense, accompanied by strong gusts of wind and hail,” warns Météo France. From Haute-Loire to Yonne, an unstable rain axis will set in on Wednesday evening. The rains should “persist until Thursday morning”, with accumulations expected “of 50 to 70mm locally, 100 mm along this axis”, adds Météo-France. In the Marseille region, 50 to 70 mm of water have already fallen since the beginning of the day, it is specified. Accumulations of the order of 60 to 80 mm “fairly generalized with peaks greater than 100-150 mm”, are expected for this episode, according to the organization. Due to the heavy rainfall already recorded in Marseille on Wednesday, the first evening of the Delta festival, where Justice, Julien Granel and Caravan Palace were to play, has been canceled, “to guarantee the safety of all”, announced its organizers on Instagram. The festival will open its doors on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. and will last until Sunday, they nevertheless assured. Furthermore, access to the Toulourenc gorges site in Vaucluse has been prohibited to the public in the municipalities of Malaucène and Saint-Léger-du-Ventoux, until the orange alert is lifted in this department, the prefecture announced.dfa-cka/epe/as
