A flood never seen for more than 40 years in Rennes, gusts at more than 100 km/h, the village of Vendée Globe Closed, traffic: Herminia depression played the spoilsport on Sunday in the west of the country and the situation will continue on Monday.
In the Breton capital, crossed by two rivers, the Ille and the Vilaine, “We are today (Sunday) to values which are higher than those we had noted in 1981”reference year for floods, commented the mayor, Nathalie Appéré, during a press briefing Sunday morning.
The rise in the waters of the Ille and Rance canal led the town hall to take on Saturday evening a decree of evacuation of four streets and to open three gymnasiums to accommodate people who cannot return or stay at home.
“We made an evacuation order yesterday (Saturday) evening on four streets (…), dwellings which are behind a dike which normally protects them, and there the water has passed over the dike”said Ms. Appéré.
The sector has a hundred homes, according to the mayor. Twenty-six people were welcomed in a gymnasium opened by the city.
This district stuck between the Ille and Rance canal and the Ille had its feet in the water on Sunday.
“I’ve been living in the neighborhood for 40 years, I have never seen that”told AFP Bruno Lorandel, 47 years old. In his professional premises, this audiovisual producer has “Damage since yesterday”with part of the lost equipment. “We are scanning water in the cellars”he said.
“I find it quite impressive, quite disturbing because it went up quickly”testified to AFP TV Sylvie Bannier, sales assistant, not far from cars half underwater.
Risk of avalanches
Herminia succeeds the Eowyn storm, of exceptional violence across the Channel. It has caused rains and gusts on northwestern France, in areas where the floors are already saturated with water.
Streets partially flooded at the passage of the Herminia depression, January 26, 2025 in Rennes / Laure Fillon / AFP
Météo-France has placed Orange Vents on the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées and the Rhône until Monday. In Yraty, Pyrenean ski resort, the wind blew up to 189.7 km/h.
The Morbihan will go to orange for rain-innon from 6:00 p.m. Sunday. Calvados, Ille-et-Vilaine, Mayenne and Orne will remain in raw orange vigilance until Monday. Added to this is Maine-et-Loire for Sunday and Monday.
Finistère and Morbihan will be on orange waves alert submersion on Monday.
In the mountains, the Hautes-Alpes will be on orange avalanches alert on Monday.
“New rains are expected this evening, especially in the west of the country, with gusts that can punctually reach 100 km/h, but not in a generalized way”said Météo-France in its 4:00 p.m. bulletin.
In Morbihan, “Cumulation will become locally important, up to 40 to 60 mm in 24 hours”.
For Rennes, “It is the equivalent of 15 days of precipitation” Who could still fall, said the mayor of the city.
Throughout the department, 10 municipalities have set up safeguard plans since Friday, the prefecture said.
More generally, “The upward trend will continue on most of the rivers placed in vigilance”turns vigicrues.
Further south, in Sables d’Olonne, the village of Vendée Globe, installed since the departure of the world tour on November 10, was closed to the public.
A car under the waters after a flood from Flume in Pace, in Ille-et-Vilaine, January 25, 2025 / Eric Thomas / AFP
According to a source close to the race management, the bad conditions could force the skippers Benjamin Dutreux and Clarisse Crémer, expected on Sunday, to shelter in La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) or Lorient (Morbihan) once the line has been over the line From the Vendée city because the entrance to the port could be too dangerous.
Herminia depression could disrupt the traffic of trains “Especially on the Côtes de la Manche”according to the SNCF.
In the Pays de la Loire, the fall of a tree disturbed traffic between Nantes and Angers.
In Brittany, the impact on rail traffic is less than announced. The circulation of trains between Rennes and Saint-Malo will be normal and the Rennes Saint-Brieuc and Rennes Vannes trains will circulate at normal speed Sunday evening.