Residents of Seine-et-Marne and Eure-et-Loir with their feet in the water, a sailor dead in Sète, transport interrupted, 48,000 homes still without electricity on Thursday, October 10 at noon… Storm Kirk, which hit France, caused downpours sustained and lasting, exceptional for the north of the country. However, this phenomenon is expected to increase with climate change.
With rainfall between 72 and 74 mm in Noirmoutier (Vendée), Le Perray (Yvelines) or Nogent-le-Rotrou (Eure-et-Loir), this amount of rain has often fallen in twenty-four hours. between Wednesday and Thursday than usual in a month. In the capital, the Paris-Montsouris station recorded 71 mm in one day, a record for the month of October for a century (1920). “It is very rare to observe such an accumulation of rain in autumn in the Paris region”indicates Patrick Galois, Météo-France forecaster. Such magnitude is even unusual for the entire year: for one hundred and fifty years, only six days have been wetter in all months combined.
These heavy rains caused numerous flooding. Major flooding is occurring in the Grand Morin (Seine-et-Marne) and in the Loir upstream (Eure-et-Loir). Major floods are affecting several regions, from Pays de la Loire to Normandy, from Ile-de-France to eastern Picardy. At 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, 161 municipalities were still on flood alert. The passage of the depression was also accompanied by strong gusts of wind, with 139 km/h in Villard-de-Lans (Isère), 121 km/h in Socoa (Ciboure, Pyrénées-Atlantiques) or 113 km/h in Lyon-Bron (Rhone).
“This episode occurred after a year of excess rainfall in much of France, remembers Patrick Galois. Saturated soils cannot always absorb them, causing flooding. » The month of September turned out to be the rainiest in twenty-five years and spring is in fourth place.my position since 1959. The period since 1Ahem From January to October 9, an excess of precipitation of 30% compared to normal is observed. In Paris, accumulated rainfall is, for example, 870 mm, compared to the 670 mm average for the period 1991-2020.
Strong Atlantic heat
Climate change made Storm Kirk worse and will lead to more intense events in the future. According to an attribution study by the scientist group Climameter, warming has increased rainfall in Kirk by 20% and winds by 12%. “Storm Kirk is a clear sign of how climate change, fueled by greenhouse gas emissions, is altering our climate”reacts Davide Faranda, climatologist at the Pierre-Simon-Laplace Institute.
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