The Interior Minister, visiting the Gard hit by severe weather and flooding, also said that a person was still missing.
“A person is still wanted” in the Gard, announced Tuesday evening Gérald Darmanin, visiting Bernis, a town particularly affected by bad weather. The Gard department, hit by heavy rains and flooding on Tuesday, was temporarily placed on red alert by La Chaîne Météo * and Météo France. “Several people were reported missing but we were finally reassured about them”, also indicated the Minister of the Interior who did not give more details about the missing person. “We are trying to have the most precise news possible and research continues with local elected officials”, he completed.
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The prefecture of Gard had previously indicated that two people had disappeared due to bad weather before being found: “The missing person in Uchaud was found and was able to return to his home. Concerning the person of Aigues-Vives, research and testimonies lead, at this stage, to rule out the hypothesis of the disappearance of this person announced this afternoon ”. Public and private schools in the department will be closed on Wednesday.
In addition, a person was struck down and slightly injured in a Perrier factory in Vergèze, between Nîmes and Montpellier, and taken care of by the emergency services. During his visit, the Minister of the Interior also announced that he would meet with the Minister of Ecology, the natural disasters commission next week. “We are going to declare a state of natural disaster so that these municipalities can claim insurance”, he clarified. About sixty municipalities were affected by these bad weather in the department.
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The minister thanked “The state services and the departments of the department through the firefighters since 900 people worked and still work, including half of the local firefighters, in very perilous conditions”. 450 interventions by firefighters and 60 helicopter hoists were carried out on Tuesday.
Seven departments on orange alert
The stormy episode has improved since mid-afternoon but should deteriorate again overnight with “New precipitation, the cumulative amounts of which could reach 80 to 120 mm in three hours” Wednesday, warned the prefecture. On Tuesday, 240 mm of water fell in Vacquières (34), 188 mm in Saint-Dionisy, 151 mm in Quissac (30) and 75 mm in Nîmes (30), i.e. between two weeks and a month and a half of precipitation. . Temporarily placed on red “precipitation” alert by La Chaîne Météo, the Gard department was downgraded to orange “precipitation” alert. Gérald Darmanin also urged residents to exercise the greatest caution since in “In the coming hours, there is always a very high risk of precipitation”.
While many roads and bridges were cut, the A9 motorway, a major axis connecting the Rhône valley, the Marseille region and Italy to Spain, was closed for several hours. It was reopened around 7:00 p.m., but only in the Montpellier-Orange direction. On the A9, “About 30 people were brought to safety by air and ground means”, while in Aigues-Vives “10 people were hoisted”, said the firefighters. Train traffic between Nîmes and Montpellier “Remains interrupted until early evening”, added the prefecture.
A new disturbance also appeared by the Atlantic causing significant thunderstorm activity from Aquitaine to the central regions. In addition to Gard, six departments have been placed on orange alert for “thunderstorms” and “precipitation” by La Chaîne Météo: Ardèche, Corrèze, Creuse, Haute-Garonne, Lot and Tarn-et-Garonne.
* The Weather Channel belongs to the Figaro group.
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