Heavy accumulations of rain continue to fall this Thursday, September 4, across a large part of the country. The Mediterranean region, including the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes, was already heavily rained on the previous day.
The rainy and stormy episode that hit the south-east of France on the night of Wednesday 4 to Thursday 5 September did not cause any major damage, while 8 departments in the centre of the country are kept on orange alert by Météo-France due to the risk of heavy rain and flooding.
In Auvergne and Burgundy, where up to 90 millimetres of rain fell during the night, the continuation of a “episode of heavy precipitation causing significant accumulations over large areas, requiring particular vigilance”warned the meteorological agency, which is maintaining the orange level declared on Wednesday.
“On the Mediterranean side, the storms produced totals of around 40 to 80 millimetres, locally 100 to 140 mm with peaks of 180 mm in the east of the Var”significant quantities, noted the meteorological institute in its 6 a.m. bulletin announcing the end of the orange alert in the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes. It had been lifted at 4 a.m. in the Bouches-du-Rhône, the Gard and the Vaucluse.
In Marseille, where the sun returned on Thursday morning, the heavy rainfall recorded on Wednesday had caused flooding in the Old Port. It also forced the organizers of the Delta festival, where Justice, Julien Granel and Caravan Palace were to play, to cancel the first evening, “to ensure everyone’s safety”The festival is scheduled to open at 4 p.m. on Thursday and will run through Sunday.
“Obstacle on the tracks” of the train
In Mandelieu-la-Napoule (Alpes-Maritimes), firefighters evacuated around forty residents of a home for independent seniors to a gymnasium during the night after the roof collapsed, causing water leaks.
Train traffic is interrupted at least until midday between Cannes and Saint-Raphaël, due to a “obstacle on the tracks” following bad weather, causing significant delays, SNCF said on X (ex-Twitter).
On the coast, in the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes, some people in campsites had been moved either to bungalows or to other drier places as a preventive measure until the orange alert was lifted. In Saint-Raphaël, in the Var, where a storm remained stationary for a long time, a large lightning strike hit a stone cross on the dome of the basilica of Saint-Raphaël (Var), the firefighters said. This cross fell onto the public highway without causing any injuries, they added.
