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Open dataset · 1982-2026

Flood & Fauna

France's major floods and the protected species recorded in their path.

The map fills the declared communes of the 8 largest floods, taken whole, dry sectors included: this blue is not the water.

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Recognised and listed

Find it on data.gouv.fr
A project labelled by the French StateNational Resilience Day 2026 (Journée nationale de la résilience)
Registered with GBIFDerived dataset, DOI 10.15468/dd.ta4vkx

The trailer

Playing loads the video from YouTube.

The scale

34,483commune codesappear in at least one natural disaster (flood) order between 1982 and 2026, each one a commune within its boundaries of 1 January 2026

6,872 floods rebuilt from these orders in all.

Each shape is a département. The brighter it is, the more floods its communes count.

< 3
3-4
4-5.5
5.5 and over

floods per commune, averaged over every commune of the département

A declared commune was not flooded across its whole territory.

653protected animal species recorded in the perimeters of the 118 major floods

In the ten years before each flood, counting the declared communes. The most threatened come first. Each photo opens the species' sheet on the INPN.

Photos: Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (CC BY, CC BY-SA, CC0, public domain). Credit for each photo

Before the flood

423protected animal species recorded in the 57 observed flooded areas, in the ten years before each flood

Counting the declared communes of the 61 other major floods as well: 653 protected animal species.

Grue cendrée — BirdsCommon CraneGrus grusCritically endangered, breeding birds

In France, most wild birds are protected, game species aside. For fish, national protection (order of 8 December 1988) covers their eggs and spawning grounds: several, such as the pike and the brown trout, are fished legally.

Observations published under an open licence, recorded in the ten years before each flood, some known only to within a few kilometres, up to 10 km, when their published position is blurred or given by grid square. They tell which species were reported there, not what became of each animal.

Protected places

49of the 56 observed flooded areas in mainland Franceoverlap at least one hectare of a Natura 2000 site or of regulatory protection

Over these 56 areas, the median share of their surface in Natura 2000 or under regulatory protection is 31.0%. 16 of them have more than half of their surface in Natura 2000 or under regulatory protection.

The flooded part of Natura 2000 or regulatory protection sitesThe outline of those sitesThe observed water

Natura 2000, nature reserves, national park cores, biotope protection orders.

Many wetland Natura 2000 sites are drawn on the rivers' floodplains: a flooded area covering a large share of them is to be expected.

The rain

The heaviest rain in one day, flood by flood

Each column is a major flood, its length the heaviest rain Météo-France recorded in one day for that flood.

On 2 October 2020, the Météo-France station at Saint-Martin-Vésubie recorded 513 millimetres of rain in a single day, the heaviest daily rain recorded for a major flood in mainland France in the dataset.

Flood in mainland FranceOverseas floodHover, tap or move through the columns to see each flood.

Rain: Météo-France, daily rainfall recorded at the stations of its network. For each flood, the heaviest recorded in one day in its departments.

The major floods, year after year

Each flood spreads out from its centre: the more communes it had declared, the more ripples it sends. Scroll to move through the years.

The map draws the 114 major floods of mainland France; the 4 overseas floods are not on it. Each year, the three floods with the most communes declared have a card here; all 118 are in the full list.

The blue draws the observed water for 56 floods (zones mapped by State services, Copernicus EMS or Copernicus GFM). For the other 58, Xynthia among them, with no observed zone, it draws the declared communes whole, dry sectors included.

Flood after flood

The major floods, year after year

Each flood spreads out from its centre: the more communes it had declared, the more ripples it sends. Scroll to move through the years.

The map draws the 114 major floods of mainland France; the 4 overseas floods are not on it. Each year, the three floods with the most communes declared have a card here; all 118 are in the full list.

20105 major floodssince 2010, overseas included, added up year after year

All floods

One file per major flood

The eight major floods with the most communes declared since 2010, each with its own file.

Maps: Animalert, from GASPAR (Géorisques), the Journal officiel (DILA), the observed flood zones (DDTM), Copernicus EMS and Copernicus GFM (© European Union), INPN and IGN ADMIN EXPRESS. Contains modified Copernicus Emergency Management Service information (2026)

See all 118 major floods

Method and sources

Where these figures come from

A commune counts for a flood when an order declares it a natural disaster for flooding that occurred during that flood. A species is recorded in a flood's perimeter when an observation published under an open licence was made there before the flood, to within a few kilometres, up to 10 km, when its published position is blurred or given by grid square.

Sources

GASPARThe database of natural disaster orders, commune by commune (Géorisques): the backbone of every event.
Journal officielThe orders themselves, for the dates and communes the database leaves out.
Observed flood zonesFlooded areas mapped by State services (DDTM) after a flood.
Copernicus EMS and GFMWater observed after a flood: EMS from satellite images, every map of an activation combined, GFM by satellite radar (Sentinel-1).
Météo-FranceDaily rainfall recorded at the network's stations.
Hub'EauRiver discharge at hydrometric stations.
INPNFrance's national natural heritage inventory (PatriNat): protected areas, ZNIEFF, protection status and the Red List.
GBIFDated, georeferenced wildlife observations, under CC0 or CC BY only.
ICPEClassified livestock installations, at the point Géorisques gives.
SIRENELivestock businesses and veterinary practices, at their declared address (Insee).
RNAThe national register of associations: animal protection and wildlife associations.
AgresteLivestock herds from the 2020 farm census, commune by commune.

What this data tells

Which communes each flood had declared a natural disaster, and when.
How much rain fell, at its heaviest, in each flood's départements.
Which farms, animal protection associations and protected areas lie today in each flood's perimeter.
Which protected species had been recorded there before the flood.

What it does not tell

How many animals died: the dataset places establishments registered today, it does not say whether they were flooded.
What became of each species recorded: an observation says a species was reported there before the flood, not what became of it.
Where the water rose in each commune: a declared commune was not flooded across its whole territory.
The floods before 2010 in detail: they count in the totals, without a file of their own.
All of 2026: the year counts the decrees published in the Journal officiel up to 30 September 2026.

Licence

Etalab Open Licence 2.0. Reuse the data freely, crediting Flood & Fauna, Animalert.

The data

Everything is downloadable

Tables, communes, water extents and the method note, updated after each major flood.

Download the full datasetdata.gouv.fr

CSVFlood tableinondations-biodiversite.csv
JSONFlood tableinondations-biodiversite.json
GeoPackageFlood extentsinondations-biodiversite.gpkg
CSVCommunes, and their declared floods since 1982communes-inondations.csv
CSVCommunes of each floodcommunes-par-crue.csv
CSVOrders of each flood, with their NOR numberarretes-par-crue.csv
CSVManual rules for grouping the ordersregles-manuelles.csv
CSVProtected areas, flood by floodespaces-proteges-par-crue.csv
CSVSpecies recorded, flood by floodespeces-par-crue.csv
CSVSpecies removed by the quality filter, with the reasonespeces-exclues.csv
CSVBird records by month, behind their Red List categoryespeces-oiseaux-mois.csv
CSVFarms, vets and associations, flood by floodexposition-par-crue.csv
CSVRainfall and river flows, flood by floodcontexte-hydro.csv
CSVSource GBIF datasetsgbif-derived-dataset.csv
PDFMethod notemethodologie.pdf
JSONKey figures, with their file and filterchiffres-cles.json
JSONQuality checkscontrole-qualite.json

Flood & Fauna is a research project by Animalert, the network for reporting lost and found animals.