A section of road in south-west France has collapsed into a 50m-wide hole caused by the heavy rain that has buffeted the region for several days.
The French weather service has maintained weather alerts in several areas as storms hit the south-east today (Sunday September 8).
The RN134 road near the village of Urdos in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques collapsed in the early hours of Saturday September 7 after two days of torrential rain.
Préfecture Pyrénées-Atlantiques on X (Twitter)
No injuries were reported, however the 50m-wide and 50m-deep hole will render the road unusable for months, which will affect the communes of Aspe, Urdos, Cette-Eygun and Etsaut in particular.
The collapse also cut off the electricity supply to around 300 people.
“The situation has not yet stabilised in these four communes,” announced the Pyrénées-Atlantiques prefecture. “The safety and rescue services are continuing their reconnaissance work, particularly in the commune of Borce.”
Préfecture Pyrénées-Atlantiques on X (Twitter)
Storms subside in south-west
Météo France
The wet weather thought to have caused the collapse has now subsided in the south-west and the French weather service Météo France has lifted the tier one (yellow) alert for the Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
However, many departments are still on alert, with 28 on tier one (yellow) alert, and three on tier two (orange) alerts for flooding, namely Manche, Var and the Alpes-Maritimes.
