Floods and floods: an awakening underwater for the Basque Country and Béarn – South West

Yellow, orange, red. The gradient did not bode well. After the passage of the storm Barra in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and the Landes, in the middle of the week, the rains did not weaken. Thursday, the move to the orange vigilance and the first streams overflows in the early evening foreshadowed landscapes of the next day.

This Friday, December 10, the inhabitants of the Basque Country and Béarn woke up with their feet, cars and houses in the water. The floods of the Nive, the Nivelle and the gaves of Pau and Oloron caused a great deal of material damage, but no casualties. Not even a slight wounded, welcomes the prefect Eric Spitz.

Relief has carried out nearly 300 interventions, some of which are still underway on Friday evening. Most of them concerned sheltering people, as well as 20 rescues of motorists stuck in their cars. Four colleges and 18 schools had to be closed. At the height of the bad weather, during the night from Thursday to Friday, up to 1,600 homes were deprived of electricity.

The flood peak, announced this Friday evening for 11:07 p.m., at the time of high tide, is still largely monitored by the authorities, especially in Bayonne. The red alert has sounded. Especially in view of the situation on the A63 motorway, between Bayonne and Biriatou. For the motorists engaged on this way, this Friday, the day is long.

Stuck on the highway

At the end of the morning, the rise of the Nive covered the tracks of the A63 with a film of water making traffic very complicated. At noon, the Pyrénées-Atlantiques prefecture decided to close a portion of the axis at Bayonne, first partial, then total, before becoming partial again. All the heavy goods vehicles were immobilized on the road or detained at the Biriatou border. Results ? A massive 15-kilometer traffic jam, with users stranded for hours. “Our goal is to empty the highway before 11:07 p.m.”, comments Prefect Eric Spitz.

To reduce the traffic jam, motorway entrances were banned at the end of the day and the Vinci Autoroutes teams, associated with the National Police, tried to evacuate light vehicles as a priority. On the Spanish Basque Country side, the Ertzainta, police of the autonomous community, was also at work to encourage heavy goods vehicles to turn around before the Biriatou tollgate.

No drop in the night

During this night from Friday to Saturday, the levels will drop little, warns Météo-France. If the flows will weaken, with a drop in the rain-snow limit which will limit the impact of meltwater, the high tide at night “will act as a buffer”, explains Thomas Beauquesne, forecaster at Météo-France. In other words, “we are going to stay very high”. If the disturbances must be less this Saturday, the level “may take time to go down”. The fault of a new warmth, which will once again melt the snow and feed the watersheds. “We are still waiting for a somewhat difficult day,” warns the prefect of Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

Attention will be focused more particularly on the Nive, in Bayonne, and on Laruns, which should be monitored.

Instructions

The prefect, like the gendarmes and firefighters, want to send a clear message: respect for instructions. While the Pyrenean ski resorts are showing insolent snow cover this weekend, Eric Spitz encourages mountain enthusiasts to stay at home. “Since Thursday, the main cause of intervention is linked to people stuck in their vehicle who tried to pass while the road was blocked”, adds Colonel Boulou, boss of the fire department of the department.

On the same subject

Bad weather in the South-West: our dossier

The bad weather, which has already caused significant damage, continues this Friday, December 10. The Pyrénées-Atlantiques and the Landes have been placed in red vigilance by Météo France

Unheard of in Laruns

In the Ossau valley, Laruns, 1,200 inhabitants, was crossed by a torrent during the night of Thursday 9 to Friday 10 December. “In Laruns, we were afraid, but the torrent was able to be diverted thanks to emergency works. We feared having to relocate up to half of the inhabitants, ”explained the prefect of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Eric Spitz, at the end of the day on Friday. Only one person ultimately had to leave their accommodation. The snow fell in abundance in recent weeks, a slight warmth and then a deluge of rain caused an exceptional situation. “This is a record in terms of the quantity of water fallen in 24 hours,” assures Thomas Beauquesne, forecaster at Météo-France. Since we took measurements there, we had never seen that. “