about 26,000 homes without electricity in the South West

Some 26,000 homes in southwestern France are without power on Saturday (July 8th) following severe thunderstorms that hit the area on Friday evening, Enedis reported. In total, eight departments were still affected around 10 a.m. by the cuts, the most affected being the Gers (10,000 households) and the Pyrénées-Atlantiques (6,500), detailed the spokesperson for Enedis.

The other departments are Hautes-Pyrénées (2,500), Haute-Garonne (2,000), Lot-et-Garonne (2,000), Landes (1,000), Dordogne (1,000) and Lot and Tarn-et-Garonne (1,000 for both).

A man in serious condition in Pau

“Currently, it is difficult to give recovery times, we are still in the inventory and the analysis of breakdowns to see exactly what there is to do as repairs”said the Enedis spokesperson, describing the stormy episode as “significant”. Enedis teams from other French regions were called in as reinforcements, the cuts being mainly caused by falling trees or branches on the electrical cables.

Impact west of Villeneuve-sur-Lot (47) today #thunderstorms #weather report pic.twitter.com/OKkhJNtvwr

— Villanelle 🔪 (@dwtginger) July 7, 2023

On Friday, a tree fall on a vehicle injured a 65-year-old man in Pau, Béarn. The victim was extricated by paramedics around 7:15 p.m., firefighters said. Polytraumatized and in serious condition, he was still hospitalized on Saturday morning, according to the prefecture.

Panorama of the #arcus in the #lauragais yesterday evening @KeraunosObs @Meteo_Pyrenees @Weathertowns @monitoringweather11 pic.twitter.com/6X9D9XPMck

— vidal christophe (@louigy11) July 8, 2023

The rains and strong winds led to some 120 firefighter interventions in the Gers. Several roads were cut there. Outdoor events had been canceled on Friday evening, such as the Pause Guitare festival in Albi (Tarn) where spectators were evacuated while trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf was to go on stage.