Europe 1 with AFP 11:57 a.m., September 26, 2021
Gard, Ardèche and Drôme were on orange alert for thunderstorms and floods on Sunday morning.
In some areas of Gard, such as around Alès, were particularly affected during the night, with the memory of very severe bad weather ten days ago.
The Gard, particularly affected, but also the Ardèche and the Drôme were still on orange alert for thunderstorms and floods on Sunday morning, while the Hérault saw its follow-up lifted after a rainstorm episode that occurred during the night but losing intensity.
"The thunderstorms are activated on the north-east of the Hérault and the west of the Gard. They are locally accompanied by hail", noted Météo-France in its last bulletin of 8:20, noting in particular of "accumulations on 3 hours of 119 mm at Saint Christol-les-Alès or 104 mm at Salindres ", in the Gard.
Four meter fires
"Some showers still affect the north of the Hérault but no longer justify orange vigilance", adds the same source, specifying that "it fell 50 to 60 mm on the north of the department". The north of Gard and in particular the Alès sector were particularly affected during the night by violent storms, recording "up to 140 mm of precipitation, sometimes in the form of hail, without however causing significant flooding at this time" , according to a press release from the Gard firefighters.
These thunderstorms accompanied by "enormous electrical activity" caused at least four fires of meters during the night and several fires on homes.
"In the area, it looked like fireworks," said the representative of SDIS 30 to AFP.
"Strong thunderstorms are still present in the Gard. These thunderstorms are currently losing intensity and are gradually shifting to the east of the department and the Rhône valley," Météo-France said.
Lifting of the alert in the middle of the day
If they "evacuate during the morning", these "thunderstorms can still give amounts of rain of the order of 50 to 80 mm in a short time and locally give rise to hail and strong gusts of wind", however warns the meteorological institute. Orange vigilance on Gard, Ardèche and Drôme should always be lifted around 12 noon, as planned since Saturday.
About ten days ago, violent thunderstorms and record rains had already affected the Gard, which had even been briefly placed on red vigilance, again for the risk of thunderstorms and flooding.
Following the "floods and mudslides" that occurred during this episode, from September 14 to 16, 2021, 48 communes of the Gard have just been recognized as a state of natural disaster, according to a press release from the prefecture of the department on Sunday.