It rained a lot on Wednesday in Loire-Atlantique. A lot of fun, one might even say. The department had not, however, been placed on orange alert by Météo-France services, but it suffered a real deluge on Wednesday and during the night, causing significant damage. According to the prefecture, firefighters received more than 3,000 calls, causing 400 interventions, particularly for flooding. “No casualties have been reported in connection with the climatic event,” the prefecture reassured. “We received downpours of water,” says a resident of the Saint-Nazaire region.
Trams stopped!
The damage nonetheless remains significant. On Wednesday evening, the computer room of the Naolib network was notably flooded, forcing all the trams to return to Nantes around 10 p.m. Service was restored this Thursday morning. This is not the case on the road network. According to the prefecture, “many national roads, particularly towards Saint-Nazaire, and departmental roads, remain closed, totally or partially”.
The very intense rainfall also led to train cancellations and delays, with several traffic lanes being flooded between Nantes and Savenay. Between 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m., more than 40 mm of rain fell in Nantes, reports France Bluenot far from the equivalent of a month of precipitation.
Mayenne has its feet in the water
According to West France, significant flooding was noted in the Châteaubriant area. The neighboring department of Mayenne also took on water. This Thursday, several municipalities were still flooded with river levels near records. Mayenne and Maine-et-Loire are still on orange alert for floods this Thursday.