An orange warning for thunderstorms issued by Météo-France concerns 24 departments in the east of the country this Saturday evening.
Thunderstorms have already brought strong winds, thunder and hail.
In Augé, in Deux-Sèvres, lightning caused a sequoia to explode this Saturday morning.
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Violent storms and huge hailstones… a start to summer marked by bad weather
The rain fell heavily in Augé this Saturday morning. A resident of this commune in Deux-Sèvres, who was filming a storm as seen in the video at the top of this article, did not expect that lightning would cause a hundred-year-old sequoia to explode. This tree fell in the garden of David’s hotel-restaurant, who filmed these images for TF1.
“This tree is missing about twenty meters. A gas cylinder (Editor’s note: overturned) is behind this tree, which will prevent us from getting back to work quickly. As for the exploded vehicle, it will prevent me from going on vacation.”David testifies with disappointment. The roof of his outbuilding is also partially destroyed. He is now counting on compensation from the insurance.
Troyes particularly affected
The violent storms first hit the southwest of the country this Saturday, particularly in Tarn, where traffic was made very difficult. In Ariège, the equivalent of a month’s worth of rain fell in just one hour in the region. In the village of Olliergues (Puy-de-Dôme), near Clermont-Ferrand, firefighters covered several roofs damaged by hail that had already fallen in the area on Friday.
The rain leaked inside Arthur’s house. “Hailstones “Hailstones the size of petanque balls fell here. The hailstones broke tiles and pieces of wood.”, laments Arthur. Despite the efforts of firefighters, roof protection operations had to be interrupted this Saturday evening because of the rains which increased in intensity. Arnaud Provinchier, mayor (without label) of Olliergues, tells TF1 that 80 interventions had already been carried out at the time of the report. “We should still receive requests for intervention tonight for tomorrow.”says Arnaud Provéché.
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Thunderstorms are mainly hitting eastern France this Saturday evening. In Besançon (Doubs), where heavy hail was expected in the evening, the municipality decided to close several parks as a precaution. Violent storms, like those which fell in Troyes (Aube) at the end of the day, could last a large part of the night. Twenty-four departments are still placed on orange alert for thunderstorms by Météo-France this Saturday evening.
