Var braced for more flooding

The Var has been placed on ‘orange alert’ as another storm brings more heavy rain, less than a month after severe floods in the region were declared a catastrophe naturelle.

In the south of the department, between 50mm and 100mm of rain was forecast to fall in six hours on already saturated ground, while residents in the north are warned to expect between 20mm and 50mm.

Météo France has placed the Gapeau, Argens and Nartuby rivers in the Var and the Huveaune in the Bouches-du-Rhône on orange alert for flooding.

Overnight, up to 50mm of rain fell in the area around Toulon. In the north of the Var, between 7mm and 15mm of rain were recorded.

Neighbouring Alpes-Maritimes, meanwhile, is on alert for high waves, flooding, snow and rain.

The Var is still recovering from last month’s flooding
when two men died and thousands of people were affected in the department after 200mm of rain fell in a few hours. The worst affected areas were Hyères, Pierrefeu, Collobrières, Le Lavandou, Bormes-les-Mimosas and La Londe-les-Maures.

Two men died in the floods at La Londe-les-Maures. One was killed in his cellar and the other when his car was swept away.

In northwest France, three departments - Morbihan, Ille-et-Vilaine and Loire-Atlantique - remain on red alert for flooding as the clear-up after last week’s storms gets under way.

Government agency Vigicrues warned: “The spread of floods downstream of the Vilaine will continue, leading to a gradual increase in levels on the downstream section of the Vilaine.”

Last night, France 3 television reported that the Brittany town of Redon was ‘a little island in the middle of the ocean’.

A reporter said: “Many roads are cut off and, to the south, the basin of the Vilaine resembles a vast swamp.”