With heavy rain expected, four departments in the south-east of France will be placed on orange rain-flood alert on Saturday March 9 from 2 p.m., Météo-France announced in its latest bulletin published at 10 a.m. These are the Alpes-Maritimes, Lozère, Ardèche and Var.
These last two departments are also placed on orange flood alert, as are Gard, Gironde and Charente-Maritime.
“In the afternoon of Saturday, the rains will intensify in the Cévennes initially and in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur secondly. This episode will end on Sunday morning,” writes the meteorological organization in its vigilance bulletin.
Météo-France specifies that “the expected accumulations in the Ardèche Cévennes will be between 150 and 250 millimeters. In the east of the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes, accumulations of between 100 and 120 millimeters, locally more, are expected. In the Alpes-Maritimes for example, these “predicted accumulations may represent the equivalent of more than a month of precipitation” usual in March.
The orange level is third on a scale of four and calls on the public to be “highly vigilant” due to “expected dangerous phenomena.” In particular, it is recommended to avoid traveling or approaching watercourses.
Furthermore, the departments of Loire and Haute-Loire will be on wind orange vigilance. The Alpes-Maritimes have also been placed on orange avalanche alert.