The departments of Mayenne and Maine-et-Loire were placed on red alert on Thursday due to “very significant overflows” in the Craon sector, where the Oudon exceeded its historic level of 1996. “Due to strong rains during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday and during the evening from Wednesday to Thursday, the Oudon reacted strongly to the heavy precipitation. Very significant overflows have been observed since the end of the night in the Craon sector” where “levels continue to rise and damaging overflows” were expected on Thursday, warns Vigicrues.
The Cher and the Indre, for their part, were placed on orange alert for floods at the start of the afternoon. “On the Arnon, the discharge of a structure further upstream causes significant overflows,” specifies Vigicrues in a new bulletin. “In the center-west, localized overflows are observed on the sections of La Seudre, the Charentonne, the Charente source due to the heavy rains at the start of the week,” adds the organization.
Between 115 and 137 homes threatened
The departments of Mayenne, Maine-et-Loire but also Ille-et-Vilaine, Loire-Atlantique and Sarthe, have been placed on orange alert for thunderstorms and risks of rain-flooding from from Thursday 3 p.m. by Météo-France. The Oudon, the only river in Mayennne and Maine-et-Loire to be affected by the red alert, reached a level of 3.25 meters at 1:30 p.m. in Craon, well beyond the “historic flood” of 1996 (2.86 m), according to Vigicrues.
According to a press release from Craon town hall, 115 households representing 350 inhabitants are located in the area affected by the floods. “Potentially, 137 homes may be affected at the peak of the flood announced around 2 p.m.,” she adds, specifying that a community hall has been opened to accommodate people who would be forced to leave their homes during the flood. . At the start of the afternoon, several families were evacuated from small buildings in the city center, where the water sometimes reached a good meter.
“The high intensities of rain that fell on Tuesday June 18 and Wednesday June 19 upstream of the Oudon basin caused a rapid rise in the Oudon at the Cossé-le-Vivien station. The flood wave is propagating towards the Craon and Segré stations where the flood peaks have not yet been reached,” Vigicrues said at 10 a.m., predicting “very significant overflows” in the Craon sector in the next 24 hours. Heavy rainfall is still expected in the next 24 hours which could cause new reactions on the course of the Oudon, underlines the organization.