New heavy downpours - received 700 millimeters of rain

France
France hit again - now a new alarm system has been introduced

Christina Nordh

Published 2024-10-18 15.33

In 48 hours, 700 millimeters of rain fell in parts of France.

Rescue workers have responded to 2,300 alarms – several of them life-saving.

And the rain is said to continue this weekend.

The French prime minister visited a crisis center in Paris on Friday and said there had not been such heavy downpours in living memory. Over one thousand people have been evacuated in central and southern France.

New warning system in place

Barnier praised the new warning system which has now been used for the first time. The system sent text messages to people in threatened areas, telling them to postpone or cancel their planned trips and get to a safe place, AP writes.

70 centimeters of rain drowned several cities in France after torrential rain for two days. Photo: Jean-Philippe Ksiazek / AFP

The national railway company SNCF stopped regional trains between Lyon and Saint-Étienne on Thursday after the tracks became impassable. Several train routes will be affected for several days to come, according to the company.

A little boy tries to clean up a street in Rive-de-Gier after the downpour. Photo: Laurent Cipriani/AP

A main highway between the two cities was also flooded and had not reopened as of Friday.

According to the French weather service Meteo France, most of the rain fell in the Ardeche and Lozere regions.

- We have never seen a disaster on this scale, says Olivier Amrane, chairman of the Ardèche departmental council.

A car plows through water on a flooded road near a shopping center in Givers, France. Photo: Laurent Cipriani / AP

Highest water level: 711 millimeters

In the Loire, the town of Rive-de-Gier was affected by the rushing water, also Haute-Loire, Alpes-Maritimes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

Worst hit was the small village of Vialas in south-eastern France, with around 500 inhabitants. There, 711 millimeters of rain fell during the two days, according to the TV channel BFMTV.

Paris was also hit by heavy rains, with flooding in the capital and several suburbs.

Meteo France lifted its red storm warning on Friday but warned of potentially heavy rain and flooding in south-west France.

A man stands close to the edge of a flooded street in Rive-de-Gier where the water is now receding after the torrential rains of the past few days. Photo: Laurent Cipriani / AP