Mediterranean rain and flooding vigilance in southern France and Corsica, Digi Mart USA News: Météo-France on Thursday, November 5, extended its orange rain-flood alert to the Hérault and Gard departments, which join the two departments of Corsica already placed at this alert level due to a Mediterranean weather episode sweeping southern France.
The orange alert issued at 6:00 a.m. for Corsica is set to end Friday at noon.
In Gard and Hérault, the alert takes effect Thursday at 10:00 a.m. and runs until midnight.
Météo-France said that in eastern Corsica, totals close to 100 mm, locally higher, have already been recorded since Wednesday. South of Montpellier, 80 mm was measured over the past 24 hours, according to the agency’s latest bulletin.
For eastern Hérault and southern Gard, the agency said stormy rain moving up from the south will continue throughout Thursday, leading to heavy totals that could exceed 120 mm on soils already saturated by successive episodes over recent weeks.
Flooding has already hit Corsica. Since Wednesday, intense rain has fallen on the Porto-Vecchio area of Corsica-du-Sud, leading to the rescue of 20 people.
One woman was pulled from her vehicle, which had been swept away by floodwaters, by firefighters, according to the Corsica-du-Sud fire service.
The episode also caused 10 houses to be flooded and several roads to close due to flooded bridges in the Porto-Vecchio, Sotta and Figari sector, the firefighters added.
Over the full episode, totals are expected to reach 150 to 200 mm across wide areas and could locally exceed 300 mm over relief, Météo-France warned.
The Haute-Corse prefecture has taken several measures for Thursday, including banning school outings and access to the GR20 hiking trail. It also recommends avoiding all non-essential travel and favoring remote work.
