Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Serious floods in S France

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Serious floods in S France

Hi The heavy rainfall arrived earlier than usual in the South of France this year. Some areas in the Cevennes received 600 mm (23 inches) of water in the 24 hrs ending at lunchtime today according to local newspaper Midi Libre. Some lowlands received 100+ mm. This together with the flow in the rivers has resulted in severe flooding downstream. Photos and info here: http://fr.fc.yahoo.com/l/languedoc.html http://www.midilibre.com/accueilml.html It is sunny now , but experts expect the rivers to continue rising downstream. Peter Languedoc, France http://tlp.netfirms.com/

Hi Some photos here : http://tlp.netfirms.com/flood.htm Peter

Yesterday they said in the news that there are 9 people dead, but today they said it is over twenty. That is awful. Seems that climate in Europe acts really strange. I have had visitors from Austria and England this summer, and all they talked about was heavy rains every day. And up north in Finland we have had only couple of drops in almost 4 months, everything is parched brown. And summer was warmest in 150 years.

Hi All you good people have overloaded my sites free bandwidth. Good pictures here at : http://reunir30.free.fr/vidourlade_2002/vidourlade_2002.shtml This is 4km from me Peter

Postcript to floods in S France Sept 2002 Hi I have just got a copy of one of the most dramatic Sommieres flood photos. You can view it at : http://tlp.netfirms.com/flood.htm and compare it to the normal view here : http://tlp.netfirms.com/photo5.htm. This bridge was built by Tiberius in AD 13. He must have known his business since the next roman bridge, about 5 miles downstream, only has 1 remaining arch. Two months have past, and you may be interested in the fate of Sommieres. The town remains in a sad state. Water, electricity and telephone services were quickly reinstated. The town water is now drinkable. The 500 strong team of emergency "pompiers" have now departed. Schools have reopened, Two supermarkets, 2 banks, several bars and many businesses remain closed. Temporary streetlighting is in place, uprooted trees have not yet been replaced and a watermill remains with one wall missing and a collapsed roof. Several buildings are supported by props, many people still cannot return to their homes. Vineyards remain with rotting grapes and tangled debris. But much has been reinstated, and last week the town celebrated with a fete complete with live music, dancing, fireworks, gondolas on the river etc. This flooding is an annual event. This years level has only been equalled twice in the last 100 years. Peter