Natural disaster declared after municipalities in Hérault ravaged by floods – the Connexion

MUNICIPALITIES ravaged by floods are declared natural disasters natural disaster areas after what was thought to be nearly five months of rain fell within hours in the H̩rault Рcausing the Lez to overflow, flooding part of central Montpellier.

As the clearing began this morning and the roads and railways began to reopen, Météo France lowered the red alert for Hérault to orange.

The storm had left thousands stranded, with the Herault prefecture saying it had helped find accommodation for 4,000 people overnight Рincluding 1,000 students forced to sleep in their schools because they could not return at home and hundreds of passengers spending the night in trains after B̩ziers and Montpellier stations were closed.

No one is believed to have died in the floods, which come just 10 days after storms claimed the lives of four people in Lamalou-les-Bains and one in Aveyron.

Many roads leaving Montpellier have been closed, particularly in the south and east, the A9 motorway being “difficult”. All public transport was cut off and SNCF said traffic between Nîmes and Narbonne had been cut off.

The access road to the airport was also flooded and flights from Gatwick, Leeds, Orly and Nantes were diverted.

While downgrading the Hérault to orange vigilance, Météo France has also kept the neighboring departments of Aude, Pyrénées-Orientales, Gard, Aveyron and Lozère with the risk of flooding from Lez and Orb in Hérault, Vidourle in Gard, Cesse and Dourdou. -Sorgue-Rance in Aude and Haut-Tarn in Lozère.

About sixty municipalities were left under layers of mud with gutted roads and vehicles washed away by flood waters from rivers unable to cope with the amount of rain that fell – with a record of 30 cm in three hours – and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said they would be declared natural disaster areas tomorrow to help with insurance claims.

Municipalities such as Saint-Pargoire, Pauhlan, Plaissan, Gignac, Lunel, Capestang, Crès, Montagnac, Saint-Pons-de-Mauchiens, Aniane and Saint-Bauzille-de-la-Sylve were severely affected with flooding reaching three times or four feet.

Schools are closed in Sète, and school buses are canceled in Montpellier Nord-Ouest, Montpellier Mauguio, Lunellois and Collège de Sommières.

See some shocking images of flood waters and damage to the Free noon site here and on
FranceInfo here.