How are French villages adapting to intense floods?
With global warming, rainfall is becoming more intense, and floods more frequent and more devastating. So how can we adapt to mitigate the consequences? ChatEurope went to Aude, a French department transforming itself to become more flood-proof.
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Violent floods swarming villages in central Europe, torrential rainfall in Spain’s Valencia region - these were some of the few incidences of intense flooding across Europe in 2024. According to the EU’s climate watchdog Copernicus, the inundations affected at least 413,000 people, leading to 335 deaths and an estimated €18 billion in property damages. As the effects of climate change intensify, rainstorms are expected to become more violent, leading to more frequent and devastating floods.
In France, lawmakers are looking for solutions to reduce the risk of intense floods and limit their eventual impact. Hit by violent inundations in 2018, a town and a village in the southern department of Aude vowed to be better prepared for a natural disaster in the future. Instead of building up more barriers against their flood-prone rivers, local authorities developed plans to work with nature to become more resilient.
Will these changes protect them from future floods?
The local population in Villegailhenc still recalls the catastrophe, which killed four of their fellow residents. Despite widespread damages, Michel Proust, the town’s mayor, had to convince the town that it was not feasible to rebuild the destroyed buildings exactly as they were prior to the floods. The town’s old bridge and 32 residential houses were demolished during the rebuilding efforts, in a bid to give the Trapel river, which passes through Villegailhenc’s centre, a wider riverbed and more space for its waters to flow.
In the neighbouring city of Trèbes, the floods claimed six lives. In the aftermath, the city’s administration decided to take a similar approach, choosing to raze buildings on the river Aude’s banks so that it had more space to flow. In doing so, the city hopes to limit the damages floodwaters would cause to people and property, while also allowing local residents to reconnect with their surroundings, said mayor Eric Menassi. While some residents appreciate this move, others are sceptical about whether these changes will protect them from future floods.
Hélène de Lacoste
Translated by Tanishk Saha