This department, as well as Gard, remain on red alert for "rain-flood" due to an "exceptional Mediterranean episode".
Red alert in Gard and Hérault. The two departments went on red alert on Wednesday September 30 for "rain-flooding", announced Météo-France, which forecast an "exceptional" Mediterranean episode. "The bulk of the rains are now over, only some residual rain persists in the foothills. The accumulations over the episode should therefore be around 200 to 250 mm, up to locally 300 to 350mm", specifies Météo-France. In addition, Hérault was placed, at 4 p.m., on red “flood” alert for a risk of “major overflows” along the Lez. Bouches-du-Rhône has also been on orange “rain-flood” alert since midday.
A 16-year-old girl slightly injured by lightning. In Saint-Aunès (Hérault), near Montpellier, a house was struck by lightning. A 16-year-old girl was slightly injured by lightning strikes and damage to the roof. She was evacuated in relative emergency to the Montpellier University Hospital, the prefecture said. Eight people were brought to safety in Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort (Gard), one of the municipalities most affected by bad weather since the start of the Mediterranean episode.
Many schools closed. Schools were closed in Gard, where heavy rain fell mid-morning in the north of the department, notably Alès. For its part, the Hérault prefecture has closed schools located in eight sectors and recommends that parents “keep children at home”.
Trains at a standstill. This meteorological episode imposes "a total interruption" of rail traffic on Wednesday "on the Nîmes Alès La Bastide Marvejols Clermont-Ferrand axis", announced the SNCF overnight on its website, now forced to give up substitute buses. All Intercités between Marseille and Bordeaux have also been canceled.
The banks of the coastal river Lez, in Hérault, are placed on red flood alert from 4 p.m., announces the prefecture in a press release, which expects "a peak in the early evening". The sectors upstream of the Hérault (the river) as well as the Vidourle remain placed on orange alert for floods, specifies this same source. The sector downstream of the Hérault is placed on yellow flood alert, as is the Orb Amont.
The trial of the far-right mayor of Béziers, Robert Ménard, opened well in Montpellier, despite the authorities' call to limit all travel. He arrived at the court shortly after 1 p.m. in pouring rain, reports AFP, in the company of former Minister of the Interior and LR presidential candidate Bruno Retailleau, whom he had called as a witness, and surrounded by around fifty elected officials wearing their tricolor scarves.
Météo-France lifts the orange “rain-floods” and “thunderstorms” vigilance for Lozère and Ardèche from 2 p.m. This vigilance began last night at midnight. Hérault and Gard remain on red alert for “rain-floods” and on orange alert for “thunderstorms”. Bouches-du-Rhône remains in orange for the “rain-flood” risk.
In the Gard, Météo-France recorded no less than 211 mm of rain in Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort (which translates to 332 mm of precipitation in the town in 24 hours) and 192 mm in Générargues, in the upstream basin of the Gardon d'Anduze. In Hérault, 144 mm were recorded in Prades-le-Lez. “The accumulations [of precipitation] over the episode should therefore be around 200 to 250 mm, up to locally 300 to 350 mm” in the Cévennes, warns Météo-France.
The Gard prefecture is issuing safety instructions for its residents, due to the ongoing red alert in the department. She therefore calls for staying at home, keeping informed with the authorities, avoiding all travel and staying away from waterways, low points and bridges. Also be careful to take refuge upstairs and avoid going down into the basement.
In the department of Hérault and part of the Cévennes, Météo-France observed "this morning rainy intensities of around 60 to 100 mm/hour", which is equivalent to "amounts of rain of up to 100 liters of water per m2 falling in one hour". On the reliefs of the Cévennes, these rains will still be "particularly marked with 50 to 80 mm possible in one hour", warns Météo-France in its bulletin. “The accumulations over the episode should be around 250 to 350 mm, locally 400 mm, or the equivalent of 400 liters per m2.”
