France, December 2003 - On Monday, high winds and heavy rains devastated the towns of Arles, Avignon and Toulouse. Five people were killed, hundreds were evacuated from neighbourhoods and thousands of people were displaced from their homes. Several people remain without water or electricity.
Heavy rains swelled the Rhone River, swamping homes nearby. Roads and railway services have been disrupted causing traffic and chaos in neighbouring towns.
A series of Envisat and ERS-2 Satellite images were acquired during the flooding event.
|
Event Timeline |
|
Envisat ASAR Satellite images |
|
These images were acquired on 5 December 2003 during the flooding event in France.
This image covers the areas of Rhone delta, and in particular the city of Arles which is surrounded by water.
|
|
Nevers and Orleans area
|
|
This image covers area of the Loire Valley (central France), between the cities of Never and Orleans. The flooded areas can be seen in the bottom-right of the image. |
|
ERS-2 SAR Satellite images |
|
Arles flooded area |
|
These images were acquired on 2 December 2003 at Matera Station.
This image covers the south eastern area of the Rhone delta, and in particular the city of Montpellier and the north-east city of Nimes.
|
|
This image was acquired on 5 December 2003 at Matera Station. The image covers the area of the Rhone delta, in particular the Gard department in south eastern France. |
|
Montauban & Cahors area |
|
These images were acquired on 5 December 2003.
This image covers the areas of Midi – Pyrenees, Toulouse (South) and Cahors (North). The flooding of Tarn and Aveyron rivers (close to the city of Mountauban), can be seen in the centre left of the image.
|
|
This image focuses on the flooded area near Montauban.
|
Back to top
Flood - France, December 2003
