Storms and rain flooding: the Alpes-Maritimes under a yellow alert this Tuesday from noon to midnight
Translated from French. Météo-France has placed the department under yellow alerts for storms and for rain flooding this Tuesday 20 October, from noon to midnight, as a Mediterranean episode driven by the Adam depression crosses the south east. In Cannes as along the whole coast, caution is advised from midday.
Translated from the French original. Lire en français
Tuesday looks unsettled across the whole Côte d’Azur. According to the City of Nice weather alert page, which relays the Météo-France vigilance bulletins, the Alpes-Maritimes department is under a yellow storm alert and a yellow rain and flood alert this Tuesday 20 October, from 12 noon to midnight. Cannes is concerned in the same way as every commune in the department, from the coast to the hinterland.
The alert is part of a wider episode that has affected the south east of the country since Monday. In its alert bulletin updated on Monday at 9.30 am, METEO CONSULT describes a depression, named Adam by the Spanish meteorological services, which deepened between the Balearic Islands and eastern Spain before moving up towards the Gulf of Lion, where it becomes blocked. Fed by mild, unstable air from the Mediterranean, it is bringing heavy rain to the south east: according to the service, this is the second Mediterranean episode of this autumn.
Rainfall of 20 to 60 millimetres expected on Tuesday in the department
For Tuesday, the same bulletin forecasts lasting rain, moderate to heavy in intensity, with the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region particularly exposed to abundant precipitation, at times accompanied by storms. Expected totals on Tuesday reach 20 to 60 millimetres in the Alpes-Maritimes, as in the other departments under alert outside the Gard, Bouches-du-Rhône and Var, where 50 to 100 millimetres are expected. The bulletin also points to risks of significant runoff in urban areas and of rapid reactions by some watercourses in exposed sectors.
The vigilance window given by the municipal alert therefore runs from midday to late evening. It is during that interval that the stormy showers are due to cross the department, before a night from Tuesday to Wednesday still marked by stormy rain in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, according to the bulletin. The end of the episode is expected on Wednesday morning, with the rain losing intensity before the disturbance moves away towards northern Italy.
The safety advice to follow during the episode
For storms, the official recommendations relayed by the City of Nice are to move away from trees and watercourses, take shelter in a solid building, keep informed and avoid travelling, protect property exposed to wind or liable to be flooded, and avoid using telephones and electrical appliances. For rain and flooding, they add moving away from watercourses and low points, reaching high ground or sheltering upstairs, watching for rising water and moving property out of the water’s reach.
Two reflexes are particularly stressed: never enter a flooded road, even partially, and do not go down into basements. For Cannes residents, the alert applies to afternoon and evening travel, to activities by the sea and near the valleys, and to vehicles parked in low lying areas. The situation remains changeable, and the vigilance updates should be followed through the day.
