The department placed on orange alert for storms and floods

The Hérault department was placed on orange flood and thunderstorm alert this Saturday as heavy rain began to fall overnight.

Strong storms accompanied by heavy rain fell early Saturday in the Gulf of Lion, where Hérault is placed on orange “floods” and “thunderstorms” alert by Météo-France.

Neighboring Aude has for its part been downgraded to yellow vigilance, according to the latest meteorologists' bulletin published on Saturday shortly after midnight.

“The episode is in progress” with heavy showers confined to the coast and offshore, notes the press release, which also forecasts precipitation in the plains.

The storms should last “part of the night from Friday to Saturday” and be accompanied by “heavy rain with hourly intensities reaching 50 mm/h”, underlines Météo-France in its latest bulletin, specifying that the cumulative rain for this stormy episode could reach 80 to 100 mm and locally 120 mm.

On Saturday, in the north-east of Corsica, “significant accumulations” will be possible and likely to worsen the level of vigilance. The north of Corsica is already on yellow alert for “floods” and “storms”.