Photos: violent storms cause widespread flooding in south of France
Up to 200 mm of rain fell in the Pyrénées, hitting drought-stricken communes
Around 5,000 lightning strikes were recorded alongside heavy rainfall
Silverbutton-2023/Shutterstock/MeteoExpress/X
Powerful storms hit southern France this weekend, bringing flooding to many areas and heavy rains to drought-stricken communes near the Spanish border.
Storms hit on Saturday night (July 12) along the western Mediterranean, particularly in the Pyrénées-Orientales, Aude, and Hérault departments.
Up to 70mm of rain fell between Saturday evening and Sunday (July 13) morning, hitting major towns such as Béziers.
In rural communes in the Pyrénées, this increased to 200mm, leading to dozens of people being evacuated.
Six times as much rain fell within an hour as in the whole of July in the Hérault department
Other areas in the Pyrénées-Orientales that had not seen rain for several months were suddenly inundated.
Around 5,000 bolts of lightning hit the area during the storm, one of which started a fire near Narbonne (Aude).
However, it was quickly put out and did not lead to a repeat of the wildfires seen last week.
No major injuries have been reported as of Monday (July 14), however several thousand homes in the Dordogne lost power over the weekend.
Roads flooded, cars blocked
The intensity and quickness of the downpours saw several roads quickly flooded.
Rains fell remarkably quickly in the Hérault department.
The storms also led to trees being uprooted along roads as far west as the Lot-et-Garonne
Despite the level of rainfall, drought alerts are unlikely to change in the area, as there was still not enough to penetrate below ground level.
