Floods: Ardèche, Lozère, Gier valley… Météo France takes stock, here is where the rainfall accumulations were the most impressive

Due to a Cévennes episode in the Cévennes, a Mediterranean episode in the south-east, and storm Leslie in the south-west, the bad weather was exceptional in part of the country from Tuesday 15 to Friday 18 October 2024. Six departments were placed on red alert on Thursday: Rhône, Haute-Loire, Loire, Lozère, Ardèche and Alpes-Maritimes. Six territories where the rainfall totals were incredible.

“On October 17, 2024, France experienced its twentieth rainiest day since measurements began in 1959 with 19.2 mm recorded on average across the country. This is the third rainiest day for a month “October (behind October 28, 1990 with 25.7 mm and October 2, 2020 with 23.2 mm)”, announces Météo France.

In Lozère and Ardèche: two months of rain in three days

At the time of the assessment, Météo France informs that more than two months of rain fell in 60 hours in Mayres (Ardèche) with 694 mm, and in Loubaresse with 686 mm. The commune of Annonay, which was dangerously flooded, experienced the equivalent of a month of rain in the space of a few days, with 132 mm of rain.

“In Ardèche, Thursday’s episode is indeed the most intense ever recorded over two days since the beginning of the 20th century.^e century, with 627 mm recorded. It is even more intense than the episode of September 20 and 21, 1980, with 579 mm recorded in 48 hours,” reveals Météo France.

In the Cévennes in Lozère, the quantities of water were also very significant. According to the readings shared by the Meteo Lozère page, 561.8 mm fell in Villefort where the dam was overflowing and 508 mm in Saint-André-de-Lancize. The prize goes to the Viala sector where 711 mm of rain fell.

The Gier valley underwater

The damage is impressive in the Gier valley, in the Loire and Haute-Loire as far as Lyonnais (Rhône). Images of desolation in the town of Rive-de-Gier have made the rounds in the media and social networks.

It fell 289 mm in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon (Haute-Loire), 191 mm in Saint-Sauveur-en-Rue (Loire), 129 mm in Mornant (Rhône) and 91 mm in Lyon Tête d’Or (Rhône ). In all these areas, this is the equivalent of a month of rain.

In Givors, near Lyon, the A7 motorway was partially submerged. Motorists were trapped, some abandoned their vehicles near a commercial area which ended up underwater. In the Carrefour store in the area, employees and customers took refuge on the first floor and waited for their evacuation until the evening.

A flood in the Alpes-Maritimes

In the Alpes-Maritimes, between 30 and 60 mm generally fell on the coast, and certain sectors experienced a real isolated deluge. Mandelieu-la-Napoule suffered 149 mm of rain.

Inland, 100 to 150 mm fell, and locally between 200 and 300 mm. Enough to reawaken the trauma of storm Alex which ravaged Vésubie and Roya, taking the lives of 21 people. In Saint-Martin-Vésubie, 156 mm fell in recent days.

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