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Cars and lorries under water on southern French motorway after heavy rain

The French A9 motorway was flooded yesterday morning in the Gard area due to heavy rains. Cars and HGVs were under water, the motorway had to be closed, and twenty-three people had to be rescued from their vehicles by firefighters.

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Pölös Zsófia

Pölös Zsófia

Journalist Trans.info

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15.09.2021

Southern France was hit with heavy rain, thunderstorms and flooding yesterday morning. The equivalent of two months' rain is said to have fallen in two hours in one area of Gard, reports French media.

The A9 motorway to Nimes was closed for an unpredictable time, wrote midilibre.fr. The torrential rain that started at around 10 am yesterday prevented drivers from crossing the road at Baillargues. Some of the vehicles were flooded.

Footage of vehicles in traffic jams that were trapped by rain and flooding roads and streets were published on social media.

What’s more, about 30-40 kilometres far from Baillargues, hail with ice measuring several centimetres in diameter fell in the cities of Calvisson, Bernis, Générac, Vauvert and Vergèze, writes france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr.

Twenty-three people had been rescued from their vehicles by firefighters by midday on Tuesday, according to a report by local media outlet La Provence.

The French AFP news agency added that the storm and flood had come after similar weather in southwest France last week. Last Thursday, the equivalent of two months of rain had fallen in three hours in Agen in Lot-et-Garonne. More than two metres of water was reported in some of Agen’s streets and more than 300 firefighters were deployed.

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