Floods, Ardèche and 4 other départements, August 2018
54 communes under a natural disaster declaration (flood)
286 protected animal species recorded in the declared communes in the ten years before the flood
38 animal species threatened on the national Red List, protected or not
birds: by their population in the flood's season
- Dates per the orders
- 9 to 10 August 2018
- Départements
- Ardèche, Gard, Bouches-du-Rhône, Vaucluse and Drôme
- Flood type
- river flooding, runoff or mudflow
- Heaviest rainfall
- 300 mm
- in one day (Ardèche, 9 August 2018), ORGNAC AVEN station · per Météo-France
- 4 August 2018: 0 mm
- 5 August 2018: 7 mm
- 6 August 2018: 0 mm
- 7 August 2018: 0 mm
- 8 August 2018: 33 mm
- 9 August 2018: 300 mm
- 10 August 2018: 0 mm
- 11 August 2018: 0 mm
- 12 August 2018: 7 mm
333 mm from 7 to 9 Aug, up to the wettest day
The flood's dates
- Peak discharge
- 874 m³/s
- L'Ardèche à Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche, Sauze, on 9 August 2018 · provisional Hub'Eau value, it can be revised
- Extent
- communes under a natural disaster declaration (flood)
Protected species recorded in the declared communes
Observations recorded in the ten years before the 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.
5,219 species recorded in the declared communes
286 protected animal species among them and 38 protected plants
38 animal species threatened on the national Red List, protected or not (vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered)
193 Birds
33 Mammals, bats included
19 Reptiles
16 Insects
14 Amphibians
11 Fish, molluscs and crayfish
For birds, the category is the one of their population at the flood's season (breeding, wintering or passage birds): a bird with no dated record in the declared communes in that season in the GBIF data has none, and the breeding category needs at least two dated records in June or July. In the migration season (March, August to October), a bird that neither the passage list nor the wintering list assesses takes its breeding category only if it was recorded at least twice in the declared communes in June or July. The list used is named under each species.
The most notable protected animal species
Species with at least three observations (for a bird, three in the months that give it its category, and no bird without a record at the flood's season), the most threatened first, then the most recorded. An observation is a published record: it can count one or several animals, and the same animal can be noted several times. When their published position is imprecise, blurred or given by grid square, they are said to be "in the communes or nearby".
Birds
The observations cover every season: a migrant bird recorded there may have been away on the day of the flood.
Endangered, breeding birdsDartford Warbler
Endangered, breeding birdsEurasian Tree Sparrow
Endangered, breeding birdsBonelli's Eagle
Endangered, breeding birdsEgyptian Vulture
Endangered, breeding birdsSouthern Grey Shrike
Endangered, breeding birdsLittle Bustard
Endangered, breeding birdsLittle Bittern
Vulnerable, breeding birdsEurasian Goldfinch
Vulnerable, breeding birdsEuropean Serin
Vulnerable, breeding birdsEuropean Greenfinch
Vulnerable, breeding birdsCommon Kingfisher
Fish, molluscs and crayfish
For fish, national protection (order of 8 December 1988) covers their eggs and spawning grounds: several are fished legally.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence (CC BY, CC BY-SA, CC0, public domain). Credit for each photo
In the water's path
Establishments registered today in the communes declared for this flood, taken whole, at their declared address or at the point Géorisques gives. They were not necessarily there on the day of the flood, and the dataset does not say whether they were flooded. An ICPE-classified farm can also be in the SIRENE register: these counts do not add up.
1 ICPE-classified livestock farm located in the declared communes
Géorisques · ICPE381 livestock businesses in the SIRENE register based in the declared communes
SIRENE register · Insee61 veterinary practices based in the declared communes
SIRENE register · Insee67 animal protection associations based in the declared communes
National register of associations8 wildlife associations based in the declared communes
National register of associations
Of the 381 livestock businesses in the SIRENE register: 53 cattle, sheep, goat or pig farms, 37 horse farms, 35 poultry farms and 256 farms of other animals.
A wildlife association is an association whose declared purpose in the national register of associations is the preservation of wildlife: the register does not say whether it runs an authorised care centre.
Protected areas in the declared communes
The sites the communes declared for this flood extend over, taken whole, dry sectors included. Natura 2000 and regulatory protection first, then the ZNIEFF, each by its area in these communes. These are not flooded areas: they are not given.
- Garrigues de LussanNatura 2000, Birds Directive
- Marais des Agusas, montagnes de la Serre et d'UzèguesNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- Garrigues de Lançon et Chaînes alentourNatura 2000, Birds Directive
- Massif de la Sainte-BaumeNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- Sainte-Baume occidentaleNatura 2000, Birds Directive
- Bois de Païolive et Basse Vallée du ChassezacNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- Basse Ardèche urgonienneNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- Forêt de ValbonneNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- La DuranceNatura 2000, Habitats and Birds Directives
- Basse ArdècheNatura 2000, Birds Directive
- La Cèze et ses gorgesNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- Gorges de l'ArdècheNational nature reserve
A marsh can be designated twice under Natura 2000, for its habitats and for its birds: when both sites carry the same name, or have the same extent and almost the same area here, they share one row. Natura 2000 areas overlap and do not add up.
The declared communes
54 communes declared a natural disaster (flood) for this flood, département by département.
ArdècheSee the 20 communes
Banne, Beaulieu, Berrias-et-Casteljau, Bessas, Bidon, Bourg-Saint-Andéol, Chandolas, Dompnac, Labastide-de-Virac, Orgnac-l'Aven, Saint-Alban-Auriolles, Saint-André-de-Cruzières, Saint-Just-d'Ardèche, Saint-Marcel-d'Ardèche, Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche, Saint-Montan, Saint-Remèze, Saint-Sauveur-de-Cruzières, Salavas, Vagnas
GardSee the 17 communes
Aiguèze, Barjac, Carsan, Courry, Issirac, Laval-Saint-Roman, Le Garn, Lussan, Méjannes-le-Clap, Montclus, Rochegude, Saint-Ambroix, Saint-André-de-Roquepertuis, Saint-Brès, Saint-Florent-sur-Auzonnet, Saint-Julien-de-Peyrolas, Saint-Privat-de-Champclos
Bouches-du-RhôneSee the 8 communes
Aubagne, Auriol, Gémenos, La Roque-d'Anthéron, Lambesc, Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade, Rognes, Sénas
VaucluseSee the 6 communes
Ansouis, Avignon, Cadenet, Pertuis, Saint-Pantaléon, Saint-Saturnin-lès-Avignon
DrômeSee the 3 communes
Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux, Saint-Restitut, Tulette
Download this flood's data
In every file of the dataset, this flood carries the identifier EV-20180809-20180809-07. Its dates were frozen when the identifier was created and differ here from the flood's.
Recognised and listed
A project labelled by the French StateNational Resilience Day 2026 (Journée nationale de la résilience)
Registered with GBIFDerived dataset, DOI 10.15468/dd.ta4vkx