SEE: dramatic scenes of rising river water after heavy rain in France
Flash floods have particularly affected the Cévennes foothills
Storms have been hitting the area hard since Tuesday
thanatphoto / Shutterstock
Parts of southern France have been inundated with rainfall this week with a cévenol storm hitting the area hard.
Rainfall began in earnest on Tuesday night, and in some areas well over 150 mm or rainfall has fallen in the last 48 hours.
The intense storm has led both to flash floods and burst riverbanks, particularly in the foothills of the Cévennes.
Residents and weather channels captured a number of dramatic scenes. We have curated some of these social media clips below.
Calm before the storm
This first photo shows the dramatic skyline of the Cévennes foothills yesterday (October 18) evening, with a streak of lightning running directly past a hill.
Others showed the clouds gathering menacingly other the mountains:
The post below shows the rainfall captured in the Ardèche department during the night, hitting balconies and gardens hard.
River flooding across south
The most dramatic scenes, however, were of rivers breaking their banks.
One river in the Hérault department flooded nearby roads with quick flowing clay-red water, after incessant rainfall swelled the usually minor waterway.
The river Lergue also broke its banks, flooding nearby areas and affecting the town of Lodève.
In the Gard, the usually calm Boisseson river broke its banks, unleashing a torrent of water sliding downhill.
Will there be further damage?
Flooding from cévenol storms can be particularly severe, both due to the intensity and rapidness of downpours, which makes it difficult to protect areas before they are damaged.
The damage is also exacerbated by the difficulty in knowing exactly where rainfall will hit.
The phenomena behind cévenol storms means that whilst one valley can be hit by extreme flooding and burst rivers, the next valley over can remain relatively calm and peaceful, with no rain in sight.
More rainfall is expected throughout Thursday (October 19), although the worst effects of the storm will be over by the evening.
Some rainfall will persist into Friday, up until the afternoon – in the south-east, however, storms are set to hit hard over Thursday night with heavy rain potentially lasting into the weekend.
