Severe weather. Gard on red alert for 3 hours: 9 photos and videos of the Cevennes episode and the floods – France 3 Régions

As in every Cévennes episode, runoff water flooded the streets of many towns and caused the rivers and streams downstream to overflow, in particular the Vidourle and the Vistre.

Flooding

At Bernis, the level of the river rose by 3 meters in 2 hours, going from 0.52 meters at 11:30 am to 3.56 meters at 13:35. It thus reached its level of the September 2003 flood, the record being 4.17 meters in 2005.

22 Marseille firefighters who came as reinforcements carried out several safety measures for people in the center of Bernis, transformed into a torrent this afternoon.

The center of Uchaud between Nîmes and Vergèze was also invaded by runoff.

Railroad tracks under water

Between Nîmes and Montpellier, no more train. The SNCF had to completely interrupt the rail traffic of TER, Intercités and TGV because the railway line was submerged under water. Only the new LGV line between the TGV stations of Nîmes Pont du Gard and Montpellier Sud de France operates.

Cut roads and helicopter hoisting

On the A9 motorway, closed between Gallargues and Nîmes, in both directions of traffic, motorists stranded for hours were able to attend evacuations by helicopter. About thirty in total.

A little further west, a truck in difficulty in Codognan …

The heavy rains notably caused the cut-off of several departmental roads, in particular in the Vidourle sector, around the town of Quissac, at the foot of the Cévennes.

The epicenter of the bad weather then concentrated on the plain of Vaunage, south-west of Nîmes and on the Nîmes sector causing flooding.

⛈ The situation is becoming critical to the south-west of Nîmes where the torrential storm continues to linger, causing numerous floods. Images in Codognan. (via @MeteoLanguedoc) pic.twitter.com/5N4R3BsxMW

– Weather Express (@MeteoExpress) September 14, 2021

Hail

In Vergèze, at the gates of the Camargue, a hailstorm surprised the inhabitants.

#Hail of 4cm in diameter in Vaunage in the #Gard like here in Vergèze. Be careful! #Thunderstorm #vigilanceOrange
Photo: Bastien Cabanis / Météo-Languedoc pic.twitter.com/KVePW04W3v

– Languedoc weather (@MeteoLanguedoc) September 14, 2021

Firefighters victims of flooding

The firefighters of the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (SDIS 30) carried out a hundred safety measures in the Gard, sometimes finding themselves confronted with the raging elements. In the town of Nages, our journalist Josette Sanna photographed one of their trucks that fell into a ditch.

800 firefighters from Gard and neighboring departments have been mobilized since Tuesday morning to help the victims between Sommières, Vauvert, Bernis and Nîmes.