Europe 1 with AFP 11:54 p.m., September 8, 2021, modified at 11:55 p.m., September 8, 2021
In three hours, Wednesday evening, "the equivalent of more than two months" of rain fell on the city of Agen and its surroundings.
This heavy rainfall caused flooding in several downtown streets, bringing traffic to a halt.
Torrential rains fell in Agen, in Lot-et-Garonne, Wednesday evening, causing flooding in several streets of the city center, said relief, weather services and an AFP correspondent on the spot.
According to firefighters, no victim was to be deplored shortly before midnight.
️ ️ ️ Exceptional precipitation currently at #Agen
➡️ 80.5 mm recorded in one hour (La Garenne station).
➡️ The 100mm has just been exceeded on this same station.
ℹ️ By way of comparison, the previous record on this station in 24 hours was 74mm (02/12/1990).
pic.twitter.com/GAo0vm6z1Z
- Météo-France (@meteofrance) September 8, 2021
Between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., the Agen-Estillac station recorded 129 mm of rain, "the equivalent of more than two months" of usual precipitation, Météo-France said on Twitter during a provisional estimate Wednesday evening.
Affected houses
At around 11 p.m., after a thunderstorm had passed, several streets in the city center were flooded, car traffic stopped, with a level of water reaching the knees of passers-by and rushing into houses, noted a correspondent of the 'AFP on site.
Thirty-two departments, from Occitanie to Ile-de-France, including Lot-et-Garonne, had been placed by Météo-France on orange vigilance for the risk of thunderstorms and flooding on Wednesday and Thursday. By late afternoon, thunderstorms had multiplied in the north of New Aquitaine, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and in Normandy.