six departments of the South-East placed on red alert

Haute-Loire, Loire, Lozère and Rhône have been placed on red flood alert due to “exceptional precipitation” this Thursday. Ardèche and the Alpes-Maritimes have been placed on red rain-flood alert, Météo-France announced. 34 additional departments are on orange alert, including the Paris region. “A current Cévennes episode” gives “exceptional rainfall accumulations, mainly on the Ardèche terrain”, writes Meteo-France in its midday bulletin. “We reach very locally 650 mm in 48 hours,” he added.

Several roads closed

More than 100 millimeters of additional rain are expected in eastern Haute-Loire, where a portion of the Lignon du Velay river could overflow, said the prefecture of this department, calling for people to stay at home. In Ardèche, several roads have been closed due to flooding or landslides, according to the prefecture. Annonay town hall announced that schools and nurseries had been evacuated.

The Gier, a river which flows into the Rhône south of Lyon, has been placed on red flood alert, the Rhône prefecture said. “The population is asked to respect the security perimeters and not to approach the surrounding area,” wrote prefect Fabienne Buccio on X. The A47 motorway which passes nearby has been closed.

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. This “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.

Interrupted trains

The flooded A47 motorway was closed between Lyon and Saint-Étienne and rail traffic between the two cities suspended. Wednesday morning, the SNCF decided to completely interrupt train traffic between Alès (Gard) and Langogne (Lozère) until 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 mm towards the Lot and the west of Aveyron.