Bad weather: 17 people fined in Gard for forced passages on a closed bridge

“Irresponsible and unconscious behavior. » Torrential downpours of rare violence have been falling on the south-east of France for several hours. Orange vigilance for rain-flooding, thunderstorms and floods was maintained in the Gard department this Thursday, October 17. Despite numerous warnings, the authorities noted that individuals were venturing on foot near various bridges that were prohibited from entering and closed to traffic.

In all, 17 people were fined on Wednesday for using the Dions submersible bridge, closed to traffic due to bad weather, we learned on Thursday October 17 France Bleu Gard Lozere with the Gard prefecture.

According to this same source, pedestrians forced the passage of another submersible bridge, in Mialet, Thursday morning. The police are particularly mobilized to deal with “irresponsible and unconscious behavior of people who put themselves in danger and endanger the rescuers who will have to save their lives if they fall into the water”.

Read also: DIRECT. Bad weather: six departments on red alert, schools closed until tomorrow in Ardèche

Six departments on red alert

Gard is one of the 19 departments placed on orange vigilance. At the beginning of the afternoon, Lozère and Alpes-Maritimes were placed on red alert by Météo France, one for floods, the other for rain-flooding, joining Ardèche, Haute-Loire, Loire and the Rhône.

Last March, while Gard was on orange flood alert, six people died. All the victims had tried to cross submersible bridges over swollen rivers, swollen by the downpours that had fallen. In a Facebook post, the prefecture warns residents of the region: “ Your safety and your life are at stake: only a few centimeters are enough to carry you away”they warn.