Storms, rains and hailstorms: thirteen departments in orange vigilance, a “risk of violent phenomena” according to Météo-France – France 24

A thunderstorm near Montaud, in Hérault, on August 16, 2022. NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP Severe thunderstorms still threaten part of French territory. Thirteen departments were placed in orange vigilance on Wednesday August 17 in the afternoon, announced Météo-France. This vigilance, which was already in place in several departments on the Mediterranean coast and the Normandy coast, has been extended to the departments of Ain, Isère, Rhône, Haute-Savoie and Pas-de-Calais. , threatened by intense rainfall under potentially stationary thunderstorms. In the South-East, after a lull during the morning, “new storms are reforming on the reliefs of Hérault and Gard and at the start of the afternoon, storm lines are reforming at sea and touching the Bouches-du-Rhône and the Var again”, specifies the meteorological institute, which evokes “summer storms” without qualifying the episode as “Mediterranean”. These storms could be “locally violent with strong rain intensities” which could reach “80 mm in a short time, with hail and strong gusts of wind of the order of 80 to 100 km / h”. Cumulative precipitation of 100 to 150 mm may even be reached locally, anticipates Météo-France, which estimates that the Bouches-du-Rhône department will be the most exposed, “with storms which can be long-lasting and not very mobile”. The lifting of orange vigilance is scheduled for 8 p.m. for Gard and Hérault, and at 10 p.m. for Bouches-du-Rhône, Vaucluse and Var. Storms have already affected the region of Lyon and Saint-Etienne, where gusts at 130 km / h and heavy hailstorms have been observed. For the departments on alert in the Rhône-Alpes area, Météo-France warns that hail will be abundant, “sometimes large at more than 3 cm”. No damage after the thunderstorms of the night On the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, thunderstorms, sometimes accompanied by heavy rains, have already swept the South-East from west to east, from Aude to Var, but no notable damage was registered, according to the emergency services. Orange vigilance had been lifted during the night for Aude, Tarn and Aveyron. “At this stage, no damage, small interventions on all the departments placed in orange vigilance, nothing serious, prevention has done its job, and we have nothing to report”, reassured on RMC Grégory Allione, the President of the National Federation of Firefighters of France. In Hérault, Météo-France noted “up to 75 mm of precipitation in Montarnaud, and 97 mm in Puéchabon, including 86 mm in one hour”. In Hyères, in the Var, the heavy rains on the city were accompanied by hailstones the size of marbles, and a gust of wind was recorded at 116 km / h. The World with AFP