Since Saturday March 9, 2024, Gard and Ardèche have been on alert because of depression Monica. During the night of Saturday to Sunday March 10, the department reported severe bad weather which unfortunately had serious consequences. A human toll is indeed to be deplored, as reported by our colleagues from the newspaper The Parisian, Sunday March 10. “The situation, although stabilized meteorologically, reported serious events this morning at 10 a.m., which took place during the night., declared the Gard prefecture in a press release. Indeed, seven people disappeared overnight, including six in the Gard department. “We have seven missing, six in the Gard department, one in the Ardèche department“, lamented the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin on the air of BFMTV, early on Sunday. As part of the research, several vehicles belonging to people declared missing “were found, but not the people“, made Gérald Darmanin official. During this night disrupted by the weather conditions, 300 firefighters worked “specialized resources for rescue in swift water and floods“. Moreover, three helicopters made it possible to survey the area. In all, these are not less than “35 rescues that saved lives“, which the firefighters assured.
Gard: a man perishes swept away by water
These weather eventsextremely difficult and violent” carried away a man of Belgian origin who had tried to cross a submerged bridge aboard his 4×4, as reported The Parisian. While people present in the surrounding area had raised the alarm concerning this sixty-year-old, emergency services went looking for him. The bridge had been closed to traffic and a police officer from the municipal team had asked him not to venture there. The car was quickly swept away by the overflowing water. The sixty-year-old was not alone at the time of this disastrous crossing. At his side was his 42-year-old son-in-law. The latter managed to get out of the passenger compartment through the sunroof at the last minute. He ended up pulling himself onto a tree, out of the water, while waiting for help. He would have stayed there for two hours, according to daily information. After this very impressive incident, the man was taken to hospital, while his father-in-law was found dead. In the departments of Gard and Ardèche, many roads have been closed. The prefecture has asked residents to limit all travel as much as possible.