"We have to pump the water, we have no choice": in Isère, after the floods, it's time to clean up

Jean-Luc Boujon 08:27, September 19, 2023

After the torrential rains, it's time to clean up. In the Ardèche, Isère and Drôme, the floods have left some traces. Roads cut by floods, garages and cellars under water... Thematerial damage is significant but fortunately, no victims are to be deplored. Several hours after the storm, boots are still needed to access Marc's house, whose yard and garage were flooded. "It was a waterspout! I put blankets, I put boards but it was useless: everything was flooded in the garage. A disaster!" recalls the victim.

>> Find Europe 1 Matin in replay and podcast here

Many garages were flooded. Photo credit: Jean-Luc Boujon

"As high as the garage door"

In the Beaurepaire sector in Isère, many inhabitants were not spared by the floods. "See the height? As high as the garage door: 2.70m!" is alarmed at the microphone of Europe 1 Agnès, who lives a few kilometers from the town. "Luckily, I live upstairs, but we have a room downstairs that's completely screwed," she continues. Present at Agnès, the firefighters yesterday multiplied this type of intervention, explains Captain Christophe Hugon.

"We have done more than a dozen since the beginning of the afternoon. That's a lot of flooded garages. So, we have to pump the water, we have no choice, we must at least dry the houses and garages."

Traffic on the A7 interrupted

Arnaud was very surprised by the speed of the phenomenon: "It was a big wave of water. In just a few minutes, it goes up to 60 cm. And we had 20 cm of water in the kitchen. It carried stones and mud: it was impressive!" Another consequence, the A7 motorway had to be cut all afternoon on Monday. Snowplows had to be used to remove the mud that remained on the roadway after the water had receded.