One dead, 850,000 homes without power as Storm Nils batters France
A truck driver was killed and nearly 850,000 households lost electricity as Storm Nils swept across southern and southwestern France on Thursday, bringing violent winds, flooding, and avalanche risks.
The driver died in the Landes department near the town of Mees after a falling tree branch struck his truck, News.Az reports, citing Anadolu.
France’s national weather service, Meteo-France, issued red alerts in four departments — Savoie, Aude, Gironde, and Lot-et-Garonne — warning of dangers including avalanches, powerful winds, and severe flooding.
Electricity provider Enedis reported that about 850,000 homes were without power early Thursday. The hardest-hit regions were Nouvelle-Aquitaine, where 485,000 households were affected, and Occitanie, with 318,000 outages.
Wind gusts overnight reached 162 km/h (101 mph) in Biscarrosse in the Landes region. Gusts of 157 km/h were recorded in Lege-Cap-Ferret (Gironde), 132 km/h in Millau (Aveyron), and 125 km/h in Toulouse. Forecasters described some of these wind speeds as unprecedented for February in certain areas.
In Aude, where the red alert for violent winds remained in place, around 17,000 homes across approximately 40 municipalities were without power. More than 600 Enedis workers were deployed alongside 769 firefighters and dozens of police and gendarmes to respond to the crisis.
Flood warnings were extended in Gironde and Lot-et-Garonne, with authorities cautioning that river levels along the Garonne could continue to rise. In Langon, water levels more than doubled within 48 hours, increasing from 3.80 meters to over 7 meters (23 feet). In Cadillac, levels exceeded 6 meters and were projected to approach or surpass flood records set in 2018 and 2006.
Around 30 residents were evacuated overnight in La Reole, Gironde, as a precautionary measure.
According to the flood monitoring service Vigicrues, 29 river sections were placed under orange alert, with major overflows expected within the next 24 hours. The agency noted that repeated heavy rainfall in recent weeks has heightened the risk of rapid flooding.
By Nijat Babayev
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