Haute-Loire and Ardèche on red alert, nineteen departments on orange alert

A section of the Lignon du Velay, another of the Loire vellave, in Haute-Loire, and a section of the Gier, a river which flows into the Rhône south of Lyon, were placed, Thursday, October 17, on red alert for risks of flooding, announced the prefects and the Vigicrues information service. Météo-France also applied red vigilance for floods in Haute-Loire, and for risks of rain and flooding in Ardèche, in a bulletin published shortly after 10 a.m.

More than 100 millimeters of rain are expected in eastern Haute-Loire, the prefecture said, calling on residents to stay at home. In the Rhône, “the population is asked to respect the security perimeters and not to approach the surrounding areas” du Gier, wrote prefect Fabienne Buccio on X. The A47 motorway which passes nearby was closed.

In Ardèche, several roads were also closed due to flooding or landslides, according to the prefecture. The town center of Annonay is flooded and schools and nurseries are evacuated Thursday morning following heavy rain, the town hall announced in a press release published on its website. “The entire flooded city center is evacuated”the town hall told Agence France-Presse. School and urban transport are suspended and seven streets in the city center closed to traffic, the town hall said in a press release. “Students in secondary schools are now safely confined”it is specified.

Météo-France has also increased its vigilance in the south of the country, placing nineteen departments in orange for the risk of floods, rain-floods and thunderstorms. The bulletin warns of “exceptional rainfall in Ardèche and exceptional flooding on the Lignon”in Haute-Loire, and against “heavy rains, strong thunderstorms and strong floods in many regions”notably in the Cévennes, the Massif Central, in Occitanie, in the east of Provence and the south of Aquitaine.

Thursday morning, at dawn, thirteen departments were on orange alert, leading to closures of educational establishments, particularly in the Alpes-Maritimes. As a precaution, all establishments in the department welcoming young people, from nurseries to high schools, will remain closed on Thursday, as had already been the case on October 8, announced the prefect. In Nice, parks will be closed and measures to shelter the homeless have been taken by the city. In Gard, school transport is canceled in the northern half of the territory. In Lozère, school transport is suspended in the south-east of the department.

Train traffic interrupted

Rail traffic will also be completely interrupted on several lines north and north-east of Toulouse for the entire day of Thursday due to “strong winds, rain and storms”announces liO Train SNCF Occitanie on its website. “A total interruption of traffic on the Toulouse-Rodez, Toulouse-Mazamet, Rodez-Brive, Montauban-Cahors-Brive, Toulouse-Figeac-Aurillac axes is planned for Thursday. No road substitution will be put in place »specifies liO Train SNCF Occitanie. On Wednesday morning, the SNCF had already decided to completely interrupt train traffic between Alès (Gard) and Langogne (Lozère) until Friday morning.

Cet “intense rain-storm episode (…) requires special monitoring due to its intensity and duration” with “uncertainties about the location of the strongest storms and the heaviest precipitation”writes the organization in its 10 p.m. bulletin.

Gard, Lozère and Ardèche, the last three departments still on orange alert for rain-flooding late Wednesday afternoon, will be joined on Thursday by the Alpes-Maritimes, Ariège, Aveyron, Corrèze , Dordogne, Gard, Haute-Garonne, Hautes-Pyrénées, Lozère, Lot, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Rhône, Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, Loire and Haute-Loire, and the Var. Ardèche, Lozère and Gard will also remain on orange alert for floods, joined by Aveyron, Rhône, Loire, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Alpes-Maritimes.

The current Cévennes episode gives “significant accumulations of rain, mainly on the Ardèche terrain and spilling over into the east of Haute-Loire and the south of the Loire”according to Météo-France. On the relief of the Cévennes and Vivarais, the accumulations reach 200 to 300 millimeters since the start of the episode, up to occasionally 350 to 400 millimeters in the Lozère Cévennes, and 450 to 500 millimeters on the Ardèche mountains.

In the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, precipitation began on Wednesday evening and could result in significant accumulations in the Basque mountains. In the Alpes-Maritimes, rain is expected from Thursday at midday, with a lull expected during the night from Thursday to Friday. Finally in Corrèze, Lot, Tarn and Aveyron, precipitation is expected Thursday afternoon until Friday morning with possible peaks of around 100 millimeters towards the Lot and the west of Aveyron.