A night of storms and floods in the south-east of France

The night of Wednesday 4 to Thursday 5 September was a night of storms throughout the south-east of France. It was a deluge on the quays of the Old Port of Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), completely submerged. In a few hours, 80 cm of water fell on the Phocaean city, a record for three years. On Thursday morning, shopkeepers had to clean a thin layer of mud. The day before, under pressure, the sewer covers rose, causing the pipes to overflow.

During the night, the storm moved eastward, reaching the Alpes-Maritimes. In Mandelieu-la-Napoule, the equivalent of a month and a half of precipitation fell. The water seeped into the false ceilings of a retirement home. The 46 residents were evacuated at 2 a.m. in a gymnasium. The rain caused some landslides. Along a railway line in Théoule-sur-Mer (Alpes-Maritimes), a low wall collapsed. Some trains were up to 4 hours late. On Thursday evening, traffic from Nice station (Alpes-Maritimes) returned to normal.