Frédéric Michel (correspondent in Cannes) // Photo credit: VALERY HACHE / AFP 2:34 p.m., September 23, 2024
It all happened very quickly. According to initial measurements, around 18 litres of water per square metre fell in Cannes in twelve minutes. A retired couple from Cannes watched the deluge, stunned. “Around 7am. It was pouring. But then it calmed down,” explains the relieved partner.
In some streets of the city, particularly on the sloping boulevard de la République, where rains from the heights of Grasse and Cannes flow, water has to be pumped out, bailed out and cleaned. The ground is muddy, the cellars and ground floors are flooded, vehicles have even been carried away by the water.
Yellow alert this Monday in the Alpes-Maritimes and in the Var
A shopkeeper is surprised by the lack of response from the authorities. “There was no anticipation from the weather services who said ‘there might be hail tomorrow morning’ and suddenly, it was a deluge. It was all white for ten minutes. It’s crazy, there was a lot of water in a very short time,” he laments on Europe 1.
David Lisnard, the mayor of Cannes, also had a rant, pointing out the failings of the Alpes-Maritimes prefecture and the weather agencies. “We know that these phenomena are very complex. There are forecasters who spend many years studying, we have aerology phenomena, soil saturation, etc. But despite everything, the lack of anticipation was glaring on the part of Météo-France. We should have at least been on orange alert, or even red,” defends Yann-Vari Lécuyer, deputy director general of urban planning services for the City of Cannes.
The only good news is that there were no injuries this Monday morning, only limited damage. Everyone remembers October 3, 2015, when several people died in the region following heavy rains, particularly in Cannes, on the Boulevard de la République. Météo France placed the Alpes-Maritimes and Var departments on yellow alert for storms and rain-flooding this Monday.
