- Title: Locals laud solidarity in French town after floods leave trail of damage
- Date: 18th October 2024
- Summary: RIVE-DE-GIER, FRANCE (OCTOBER 18, 2024) (REUTERS) FLOODWATERS RIVER WITH FLOODWATER, BRIDGE VARIOUS OF EXCAVATOR REMOVING MUD FROM STREET VARIOUS OF PEOPLE OUTSIDE DAMAGED VETERINARY CLINIC (SOUNDBITE) (French) VETERINARIAN WHOSE CLINIC WAS DAMAGED BY FLOODING, ANDY, NO LAST NAME GIVEN, SAYING: "It started yesterday from 11:30 a.m., we saw a wave coming, the water rose pro
- Embargoed: 1st November 2024 13:27
- Keywords: catastrophe damage flooding
- Location: RIVE-DE-GIER, FRANCE
- City: RIVE-DE-GIER, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Europe,Floods
- Reuters ID: LVA001294718102024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Residents of a southeastern French town said on Friday (October 18) they remained in solidarity to face flooding that left a trail of damaged roads, cars and businesses and left many stuck in their homes.
Massive floods caused serious damage and power outages on Friday in parts of France's mountainous southeast region after days of heavy rain, though there were no immediate reports of any casualties.
In Rive-de-Gier, near Lyon, veterinarian Andy, who only gave his first name, started to clean up alongside a group of people inside his clinic, which was more than 1 metre deep in waters during the flooding episode.
"There a lot of people who are helping us," he said, his voice crackling. "The solidarity worked."
Elsewhere in the town, excavators were scraping off mud washed by floodwaters into roads. On the sidewalk, local resident Rejeb Munier sorted through belongings that were damaged by water that inundated his home building's basement.
"The water rose quickly, we found ourselves in a panic to tell all the vehicles on the square to leave in order to avoid them being submerged. Then we took shelter at home and waited for it to calm down," he remembered.
France's weather authority Meteo France placed six departments south of the city of Lyon on a red flood alert on Thursday (October 17). The alert was downgraded to 'orange' on Friday, indicating that water levels would come down again.
French news stations showed cars, traffic signs and cattle being swept away by the floods. The A47 highway close to Lyon was temporarily transformed into a giant stream of water.
The French interior ministry said Paris had dispatched 1,500 additional firefighters to the affected areas.
(Production: Marco Trujillo, Ardee Napolitano) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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