Floods (Inondations) 2005. PART I
It all started with a ray of sunshine, which sank behind the chimney visible from my bedroom.Little did one think that after nearly 7 months of drought, constant sunshine and high temperatures, that was to be the last ray for almost 4, very fraught, days.
The Monday had been a normal one, hot, sunny, all the shops closed (as on a normal Monday) and people were grilling and sitting outside, waiting the cooling down of the day's heat.
The weather people had suggested a break in the weather, with thunderstorms, but it is September, and that is normal. Around 8pm, news started to filter through on the radio of a red alert for the area of the Herault, particularly Montpellier. This isn't unusual either, since that city is the capital of the region. Us poor little people outside are not generally informed of pending problems, rather in the same way that if something happens in the Paris region, it is considered a "national" catastrophy, and poops to the people in the Regions!
From my vantage point, roughly 45 kilometres from Montpellier, I could see the lightning, and vaguely hear the thunder, but locally I could see the stars.Rather disturbing, because the satellite emissions are always disturbed if there is electrical activity in the South, so I couldn't watch my normal programmes - shame!
This being the case, and because the cat was acting strangely (!) I went to bed early, and put the radio on to fall asleep by.
It was hot, sticky, damp, and I had difficulty in falling asleep. Just on the point of doing so:
"BBBBRRRRAAAAMMMMM-BBBBRRRRAAAAMMMM! The cat did a triple somersault and disappeared, I got up to go to the toilet to clean myself(!) and it had started! This was day/night 1 of the episode.
To end this 1st part, here are a couple of photos I took on the first day. I always understood that rain fell from up-there, to down-here, but in this case it from right (Montpellier direction
and went left, horizontally! This went on for the rest of the night, all of the following Tuesday, I don't know if the pictures really give the correct impression, but it was a situation where one felt that one should really turn the picture round on its side! These pictures were taken on the Tuesday (if I can get them to download!). That's it for part I - part II will be there tomorrow. Sleep well, with no "rrrrruuummpppss" - no more baked beans please!
These pictures are not too great, but I forgot to title the things, so I don't know which is which!
I'll go off and title them - until part II !
The Monday had been a normal one, hot, sunny, all the shops closed (as on a normal Monday) and people were grilling and sitting outside, waiting the cooling down of the day's heat.
The weather people had suggested a break in the weather, with thunderstorms, but it is September, and that is normal. Around 8pm, news started to filter through on the radio of a red alert for the area of the Herault, particularly Montpellier. This isn't unusual either, since that city is the capital of the region. Us poor little people outside are not generally informed of pending problems, rather in the same way that if something happens in the Paris region, it is considered a "national" catastrophy, and poops to the people in the Regions!
From my vantage point, roughly 45 kilometres from Montpellier, I could see the lightning, and vaguely hear the thunder, but locally I could see the stars.Rather disturbing, because the satellite emissions are always disturbed if there is electrical activity in the South, so I couldn't watch my normal programmes - shame!
This being the case, and because the cat was acting strangely (!) I went to bed early, and put the radio on to fall asleep by.
It was hot, sticky, damp, and I had difficulty in falling asleep. Just on the point of doing so:
"BBBBRRRRAAAAMMMMM-BBBBRRRRAAAAMMMM! The cat did a triple somersault and disappeared, I got up to go to the toilet to clean myself(!) and it had started! This was day/night 1 of the episode.
To end this 1st part, here are a couple of photos I took on the first day. I always understood that rain fell from up-there, to down-here, but in this case it from right (Montpellier direction
and went left, horizontally! This went on for the rest of the night, all of the following Tuesday, I don't know if the pictures really give the correct impression, but it was a situation where one felt that one should really turn the picture round on its side! These pictures were taken on the Tuesday (if I can get them to download!). That's it for part I - part II will be there tomorrow. Sleep well, with no "rrrrruuummpppss" - no more baked beans please!
These pictures are not too great, but I forgot to title the things, so I don't know which is which!I'll go off and title them - until part II !
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