Floods, Ardèche and 3 other départements, October 2023
68 communes under a natural disaster declaration (flood)
303 protected animal species recorded in the declared communes in the ten years before the flood
36 animal species threatened on the national Red List, protected or not
birds: by their population in the flood's season
- Dates per the orders
- 18 to 28 October 2023
- Départements
- Ardèche, Hautes-Alpes, Drôme and Isère
- Flood type
- river flooding, runoff or mudflow
- Heaviest rainfall
- 253 mm
- in one day (Ardèche, 19 October 2023), LA SOUCHE station · per Météo-France
- 14 October 2023: 0 mm
- 15 October 2023: 0 mm
- 16 October 2023: 10.1 mm
- 17 October 2023: 24.9 mm
- 18 October 2023: 95.9 mm
- 19 October 2023: 253 mm
- 20 October 2023: 6 mm
- 21 October 2023: 0 mm
- 22 October 2023: 13.1 mm
373.8 mm from 17 to 19 Oct, up to the wettest day
The flood's dates
- Peak discharge
- 1,159 m³/s
- L'Ardèche à Vogüé, on 20 October 2023 · per Hub'Eau
- 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.
5,901 species recorded in the declared communes
303 protected animal species among them and 50 protected plants
36 animal species threatened on the national Red List, protected or not (vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered)
201 Birds
38 Mammals, bats included
24 Insects
19 Reptiles
13 Amphibians
8 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 birdsBearded Vulture
Endangered, breeding birdsEurasian Tree Sparrow
Endangered, breeding birdsDartford Warbler
Endangered, passage birdsOrtolan Bunting
Vulnerable, breeding birdsGolden Eagle
Vulnerable, breeding birdsEurasian Goldfinch
Vulnerable, breeding birdsMésange boréale
Vulnerable, breeding birdsEuropean Greenfinch
Vulnerable, breeding birdsEurasian Bullfinch
Vulnerable, breeding birdsCommon Linnet
Vulnerable, breeding birdsYellowhammer
Vulnerable, wintering birdsRed Kite
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.
3 ICPE-classified livestock farms located in the declared communes
Géorisques · ICPE573 livestock businesses in the SIRENE register based in the declared communes
SIRENE register · Insee21 veterinary practices based in the declared communes
SIRENE register · Insee22 animal protection associations based in the declared communes
National register of associations2 wildlife associations based in the declared communes
National register of associations
Of the 573 livestock businesses in the SIRENE register: 349 cattle, sheep, goat or pig farms, 40 horse farms, 44 poultry farms and 140 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.
- EcrinsNational park core
- Les EcrinsNatura 2000, Birds Directive
- Vallon des Bans - Vallée du FournelNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- ValgaudemarNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- Massif de la MuzelleNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- Combeynot - Lautaret - EcrinsNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- Basse Ardèche urgonienneNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- Basse ArdècheNatura 2000, Birds Directive
- Steppique Durancien et QueyrassinNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- Massif de la Dent de RezBiotope protection order
- Vallée de l'Eyrieux et ses affluentsNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- Moyenne vallée de l'Ardèche, pelouses du plateau des GrasNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
A marsh can be designated twice under Natura 2000, for its birds and for its habitats: the areas overlap and do not add up.
The declared communes
68 communes declared a natural disaster (flood) for this flood, département by département.
ArdècheSee the 48 communes
Arlebosc, Berzème, Boffres, Boucieu-le-Roi, Bozas, Chomérac, Colombier-le-Jeune, Colombier-le-Vieux, Eclassan, Empurany, Étables, Flaviac, Gilhoc-sur-Ormèze, Lagorce, Lanas, Le Crestet, Le Pouzin, Lemps, Mirabel, Privas, Rochessauve, Rompon, Saint-Apollinaire-de-Rias, Saint-Barthélemy-Grozon, Saint-Barthélemy-le-Plain, Saint-Basile, Saint-Gineys-en-Coiron, Saint-Jean-Chambre, Saint-Jean-de-Muzols, Saint-Jean-le-Centenier, Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban, Saint-Julien-le-Roux, Saint-Maurice-d'Ardèche, Saint-Maurice-en-Chalencon, Saint-Michel-de-Chabrillanoux, Saint-Pierre-la-Roche, Saint-Priest, Saint-Romain-de-Lerps, Saint-Sernin, Saint-Sylvestre, Saint-Symphorien-sous-Chomérac, Saint-Victor, Saint-Vincent-de-Durfort, Silhac, Vernoux-en-Vivarais, Vesseaux, Villeneuve-de-Berg, Vogüé
Hautes-AlpesSee the 11 communes
Aubessagne, Champoléon, Forest-Saint-Julien, Freissinières, L'Argentière-la-Bessée, La Chapelle-en-Valgaudémar, La Motte-en-Champsaur, Les Vigneaux, Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur, Saint-Maurice-en-Valgodemard, Vallouise-Pelvoux
DrômeSee the 5 communes
Marsaz, Saint-Avit, Saint-Jean-de-Galaure, Saint-Uze, Serves-sur-Rhône
IsèreSee the 4 communes
Les Deux Alpes, Saint-Christophe-en-Oisans, Saint-Jean-de-Bournay, Villeneuve-de-Marc
Download this flood's data
In every file of the dataset, this flood carries the identifier EV-20231018-20231020-07. 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