Europe 1 with AFP 12:13 p.m., February 11, 2024
Manche and Ille-et-Vilaine are still on orange flood alert, and Charente-Maritime, Gironde, Landes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Vendée are on yellow wave-submersion alert. This Sunday morning, at the highest tide, the Gironde firefighters carried out a dozen interventions due to rising water levels around the Arcachon basin.
Four departments in the South-West of France were kept on orange flood alert on Sunday after the lifting of the orange wave-submersion vigilance which ran from Brittany to the Basque Country and remains valid for Manche and Ille-et-Vilaine. Météo-France has left these four departments of the Bay of Biscay on yellow wave-submersion vigilance, namely Charente-Maritime, Gironde, Landes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques, as well as Vendée.
At the highest tide, early Sunday morning, Gironde firefighters carried out a dozen interventions due to rising water levels around the Arcachon basin, with overflows up to 40 or 50 cm high. water in places.
Vehicles caught in water
In Gujan-Mestras (Gironde), three people in motorhomes parked at the port had to be rescued around 5:00 a.m. after their two vehicles were caught in the water. “They are not injured, we have brought them to safety,” an Sdis officer from Gironde told AFP.
At 9 a.m., the height of the waves reached 4.4 m at Cap-Ferret (Gironde) and 5.4 m at Saint-Jean-de-Luz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), according to Météo-France. The orange flood alert concerns in particular the Gironde estuary and the confluence between the Nive and the Adour (Pyrénées-Atlantiques).
In the north-west of the country, swept by the Karlotta depression, the wave-submersion episode remains in effect: in addition to Manche and Ille-et-Vilaine on orange alert, four departments are on yellow alert, from Calvados to Pas-de-Calais. “The combination of these strong waves and these high sea levels risks causing submersion by overflowing or by crossing sea waves on the coast placed on wave-submersion alert,” specifies Météo-France.