the A47 cut off to traffic, 70 firefighters interventions in progress, a train derails

The Lyon region is experiencing a rainy episode of great intensity. The rain has not stopped falling since this morning, Sunday April 28. The Rhône firefighters have carried out 70 interventions linked to flooding. The highway between Lyon and Saint-Etienne is closed to traffic. A train derailed near Lyon.

This Sunday, the equivalent of a month of precipitation fell on the Lyon metropolis. Some streets are flooded, terraces are filled with water in the center of Lyon and water is flowing everywhere.

The A47 motorway, between Lyon and Saint-Etienne, was cut off to traffic due to flooding on the road near Givors.

A TER which was traveling between Firminy, in the Loire, and the Lyon Perrache station derailed. There are no victims, but a good scare on board. One of our journalists was on the train. He explains that “the train suffered a very strong impact before stopping on the tracks”.

The incident would have occurred near Grigny, very close to Lyon. A rock slide is believed to be the cause of this emergency braking. Passengers will have to wait several hours before being able to find their arrival station. The TER line between Givors and Lyon is cut in both directions of traffic.

According to firefighters, in the middle of the afternoon, nearly 70 interventions were underway, mainly for cellars or flooded roads. They are likely to increase in the evening. The Rhône Prefecture services have appealed for caution. “It has been raining continuously since early this morning. With the return from vacation and the OL match this evening, we preferred to make this appeal” we indicate from a prefectural source.

Météo France has placed the Rhône department on “yellow rain flood alert”. But the services remain cautious about the evolution of the disruption.

With the disturbance undulating over the region, the axis of the highest rainfall accumulations still remains uncertain in terms of east-west location. If the expected accumulations currently fall under yellow vigilance, they could be revised upwards in certain sectors.

Météo France, in its bulletin at 4 p.m.

According to Lyon Météo, more than 100 mm of rain has fallen in the city since this Sunday morning. On its site, videos show rivers overflowing in different places, whether to the south or north of the Lyon metropolis.

In many places, the roads of the metropolis are saturated and loaded with water.

The yellow rain flood alert is maintained until tomorrow morning according to Météo France.