After a sharp rise in the waters of the Rhône during the night from Thursday to Friday, the decline is in progress, but this morning, traffic remains disrupted on the roads along the river.
The essentials of the day: our exclusive selection
Every day, our editorial team reserves the best regional news for you. A selection just for you, to stay in touch with your regions.
France Télévisions uses your email address to send you the newsletter “The essentials of the day: our exclusive selection”. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link at the bottom of this newsletter. Our privacy policy
Relief in Avignon this morning. The Rhône began to decline after a peak around 1 a.m., indicates the government service Vigicrues. “It rose to 5.44 m at its highest during the night and this morning, it is decreasing, at 5.35 currently”specifies a firefighter from Sdis 84 this Friday, October 18.
In Lamotte-du-Rhône, the Rhône rose to 8.80 m around 9 p.m., reports France Bleu Vaucluse. Mayor Juan Garcia spent the night at the fire headquarters monitoring the rising waters. This morning, the chosen one is relieved, the worst is over. No injuries. The toll was 12 houses flooded and seven roads cut.
Several roads remain closed this morning in the city of the Popes, in particular the alleys of Oulle still flooded, and will not be released to traffic for the moment.
The RD 225 remains cut, the department will reopen it with the green light from Avignon town hall. “Today, coming by car to Avignon is a very, very bad idea,” insisted Fabrice Martinez Tocabens, the deputy for transport at Avignon town hall, at the microphone of France bleu Vaucluse.
Further north in the department, this Friday morning, the situation is identical to yesterday evening, indicate the authorities. In the Caderousse plain, the RD 238 which connects to Codolet Marcoule is still closed, but the RD 237 is reopened. In the Mondragon, Lamotte and Lapalud sector: closure of the RD 68, the RD 44, the RD98 (link to Pont Saint-Esprit). Via Rhôna still closed from the RD907. The only remaining Rhône crossings are the Roquemaure and Europe bridges.
Thursday evening, the Vaucluse prefecture was on alert and had preventively closed the roads along the river. The Bagatelle campsite on the island of Barthelasse had also been evacuated.
The fire brigade system had been reinforced with advanced PCs positioned in Avignon, Bollène, and Orange. Sdis 84 indicates that there were no notable interventions during the night. But at the Caderousse dam, the eddies of the raging Rhône were very impressive, as this video shows.
duration of video: 00h00mn05s
The Rhône was placed on orange flood alert on October 17, 2024, we see it raging here at the end of the afternoon at the Villeneuve-lès-Avignon dam, in the Gard, north of the Cité des Papes.
•
©FTV
The Rhône continues to decline, but is kept on orange alert, indicates the Vaucluse prefecture in a press release. The weather is favorable upstream. No precipitation forecast today in Drôme and Ardèche. Météo France has placed these two departments on yellow “thunderstorms” vigilance and Vaucluse is maintained at yellow level with regard to “floods” vigilance until 9 p.m. This calm should allow the Rhône to return to normal levels within a few days, according to firefighters.
The Grand Delta flood forecasting service activated the yellow vigilance level on the Durance on Thursday at 10 p.m., adds the Vaucluse prefecture, which calls on motorists to remain vigilant near a river or flood zone. .
