Nine southern departments on orange alert for “rain-floods” Thursday

Météo-France has issued a new vigilance for storms and rain-floods for Thursday October 17, placing nine southern departments in orange, leading to closures of schools, particularly in the Alpes-Maritimes.

As a precaution, in this south-eastern department, all establishments welcoming young people, from nurseries to high schools, will remain closed on Thursday, as had already been the case on October 8, announced the prefect. In Nice, parks will be closed and measures to shelter the homeless have been taken by the city. In Gard, school transport is canceled in the northern half of the territory. In Lozère, school transport is suspended in the south-east of the department.

Cet “intense rain-storm episode (…) requires special monitoring due to its intensity and duration” with “uncertainties about the location of the strongest storms and the heaviest precipitation”indicates the organization in its 10 p.m. bulletin.

Gard, Lozère and Ardèche, the last three departments still on orange alert for “rain-flooding” late Wednesday afternoon, will be joined on Thursday by the Alpes-Maritimes, Aveyron, Corrèze, Lot, the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and the Tarn.

Ardèche and Gard will also remain on orange alert for “floods”, while significant stormy activity is expected in the Alpes-Maritimes, Gard and Lozère.

The Cévennes episode therefore continues and more generally “a low pressure system is rising over the country and stormy precipitation will intensify in many regions”according to Météo-France.

Accumulations have reached 150 to 200 millimeters since the start of the episode, up to occasionally 300 to 350 millimeters in the Lozère Cévennes. On Wednesday morning, the SNCF decided to completely interrupt train traffic between Alès (Gard) and Langogne (Lozère) until Friday morning, “for the safety of travelers and in order to avoid any incident”.

In the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, precipitation began on Wednesday evening and could result in significant accumulations in the Basque mountains. In the Alpes-Maritimes, rain is expected from Thursday at midday, with a lull expected during the night from Thursday to Friday. Finally in Corrèze, Lot, Tarn and Aveyron, precipitation is expected Thursday afternoon until Friday morning with possible peaks of around 100 millimeters towards the Lot and the west of Aveyron.