Hi,
Driving through Etagnac, Saint Junien, and Chabanais on Friday and Saturday, I saw that the Vienne river had flooded. I’m trying to find news about whether a dam broke but so far, not having success.
The extent of flooding, over a short span of time, and the speed of the flow of the water make me feel like it’s more than rain that is the cause.
Can anyone advise, please? Has anyone seen news of a dam breaking, perhaps?
Thanks.
Purely the amount of rain. The Gartempe has suffered far more than the Vienne, and large areas of my local town, Montmorillon, were under 1.5m of water. The level has dropped since yesterday but there is still a full alert in place. Chauvigny and La Roche Posay have also suffered, though not as badly.
Too much rain, in a very short time. Our area had over 45mm of rain in less than a day.
River couldn’t contain that amount of water. Quite usual in Scotland to have ‘speth rivers’ where the river rises dramatically in very littke time. Salmon anglers caught out on a sandbank have to be rescued clinging to a tree or two…
It will be quite a clean up in the area…
At least the weather forecast for the week has only showers… and a few dry days too.
BIL sent a video but not able to post it. Water must be up 3-4metres in height. Thats the Creuse. A lot of de forestation around us so not surprised, humans are so bloody stupid.
The Gartempe near Potiers
Where abouts in the Creuse? - I used to live there
Heard about this earlier too…
Barrou near Descartes.
Isn’t that the Loire valley? The mighty Creuse river is but a mere tributary .
A back garden backing rather closer to the Cruise than it used to. From BIL’s house across the street.
Vigicrues had had red warnings for flooding in Vienne and other areas around. It’s been active for over 24 hours now. The risk has subsided now somewhat.
Chabanais, Charente had an orange warning. It never went red. Mad scramble for sandbags and barriers. Some shops and homes were innundated others escaped by a hens tooth…
Still orange - hoping it doesn’t rain so much in such a short time again soon.
Yikes - flooding is horrible it makes such a mess.
Memo to self: modify retirement home search to avoid properties near rivers…
The threat of flooding is one of our no no’s when buying a house.
We are at 420 metres in our present house, it gives us magnificent views too.
Those photos are scary. Poor people whose homes and businesses have been flooded…
I saw pictures of a camping car parked in the aire with water half way up the sides. So sad for all the people who have had severe damage to their vehicles and homes. They will never recoup the true value of their loss.
I saw that yesterday on Meteo.fr for 71 including the Arroux, which flows past Autun. I don’t think we’ll have a problem in Cussy, but it could well affect a friend living lower down by the old mill there.
At last night’s gathering the group was “divided” in two… those who lived near water and those who didn’t…
thankfully, none had been flooded to the extent that we’ve seen in many News photos… but the warning is clear… anyone seeking a property nowadays needs to consider the climate and the speed with which water rises and overflows … 
and, of course, a Mill will doubtless be near/in water (unless it’s a windmill 
)
Her home is a couple of meters above the level of the river, and it IS a small river, but her road is called Le Moulin and it doesn’t disappoint.
We had a flood at home in 2020 thanks to a combination of very heavy rain running off a paved garden above the house, across a drive and then filling up the shingle trench we had dug out 25 years before to attempt to dry out the end wall of our house. Water came through the wall to the depth of an inch or so in our livingroom, but we were able to prevent it ruining the kitchen with very enthusiastic mopping for about 3 hours. There’s now a low wall built that prevents run-off entering the trench.
