Pilgrims evacuated in Lourdes floods

AFTER a weekend of storms that saw the altar of the grotto at Lourdes under water and many roads cut in the south-west, Meteo France has warned that the south-east is next and has set a yellow alert in Bouches-du-Rhone, Gard, Var and Vaucluse.

Heavy rains in Pyrenees Orientales, Aude and Herault saw up to 120mm of rain fall in several hours with rivers bursting banks, including the Gave de Pau which flooded parts of Lourdes and forced the closure of several sites.

Nearly 500 pilgrims - including the sick and the disabled - had to be evacuated on Saturday but the floodwaters did not reach the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.

This morning several of the sacred sites were starting to reopen after intensive work to clear debris but the Grotte de Massabielle is still flooded. Although the altar of the main shrine was under water the floods did not reach the grotto that holds the statue of the Virgin Mary.

A hydro-electric station supplying much of the town's power was badly damaged by tree trunks swept down by the floods. Two pedestrian bridges were also damaged along with the river banks.

Costs of repair works have been estimated at many hundreds of thousands of euros, and Lourdes has already been badly hit by reduced donations due to the financial crisis.

Storms also hit Normandy and Pays de la Loire and, with the ground already saturated, saw rivers bursting their banks with the Sarthe and its tributaries being particularly affected.
Screengrab from Lourdes website