Heavy rains in the Var region, traffic disrupted on several roads

Heavy rains on Monday, March 10th, caused significant disruptions on the Var road network. The situation improved on Thursday, but several roads remained impassable or difficult to access. Heavy rain fell on the Var region on Monday, March 9th: up to 130 mm of precipitation fell on Le Pradet and Carqueiranne, according to Météo-Varoise. On Monday late afternoon, Météo-France reported over 80mm of rain in Hyères.

The department remains under a yellow alert for thunderstorms and flooding for Tuesday, March 10th.

The Gapeau area particularly affected

The severe weather caused several disruptions on major roads West Toulon, particularly around Hyères, is experiencing disruptions. The RD 12 remains affected this Tuesday, as reported by the Var prefecture. The section between the Borrels intersection and the RD12/RD26 roundabout is closed due to flooding. In the same area, the road is partially flooded around the Gapeau bridge and the intersection leading to Borrels, making driving difficult. Also in Hyères, the RD559A is completely flooded between the Gapeau bridge and Mauvanne. The road has been closed at the Baraka bend. This Tuesday morning at 6:45 a.m., traffic was also disrupted between Hyères and La Capte, where alternating one-way traffic was in place, and between Hyères and Ayguade. The prefecture is calling for "caution."

Improvement expected this evening

The RD 98 and 559, particularly affected by flooding in the Pradet, Carqueiranne, and Hyères areas this Monday, are now open to traffic again.

The severe weather on Monday prompted the Hyères town hall to activate a crisis management team. The two schools in Giens were temporarily placed on lockdown, while the Jacques Prévert school was requisitioned "to assist the population." In Carqueiranne, "children attending the town's primary schools (Romain Rolland, Saint Exupéry, Jules Ferry, and Marcel Pagnol) and middle school (Joliot Curie)" also had to remain at their schools late in the afternoon. In the Haut-Var region, the RD70, which connects Saint-Maximin to Seillons-Source-d'Argens, was still flooded and closed to traffic early this morning. The situation is expected to improve this evening: the storm warning is scheduled to end at 9 p.m. However, the yellow flood warning is expected to remain in effect at least until Wednesday.