Mediterranean Weather Episode Alert, Digi Mart USA News (southern France): Météo-France has extended its orange rain-flood alert to two new departments in southern France, Hérault and Gard, due to an intense Mediterranean weather episode. The two departments join Corsica, which was already under the same alert level.
The orange alert for the island of Beauté was issued at 6 a.m. and is set to end Friday at noon.
In Gard and Hérault, the alert takes effect Thursday at 10 a.m. and will run until midnight.
Météo-France said rainfall totals of about 100 mm, and locally higher, have already been recorded in eastern Corsica since Wednesday. South of Montpellier, 80 mm was measured over the past 24 hours.
For eastern Hérault and southern Gard, the forecaster warned that stormy rains moving north from the south will continue throughout Thursday, leading to heavy accumulations that could exceed 120 mm on soils already saturated by recent episodes.
Since Wednesday, intense rains have hit the Porto-Vecchio area of Corsica-du-Sud, according to local firefighters. Twenty people were placed in safety, and one person was rescued by firefighters after being swept from a vehicle by floodwaters.
Ten houses were flooded, and several roads were closed due to flooded bridges in the Porto-Vecchio, Sotta and Figari sector.
Overall, Météo-France expects the episode to bring 150 to 200 mm of rain across wide areas, with locally more than 300 mm possible over relief. The prefecture of Haute-Corse has taken measures for Thursday, including suspending school outings and access to the GR20 hiking trail, and recommends avoiding non-essential travel and favoring remote work.
