Floods, Gard and 3 other départements, September 2020
52 communes under a natural disaster declaration (flood)
284 protected animal species recorded in the declared communes in the ten years before the flood
40 animal species threatened on the national Red List, protected or not
birds: by their population in the flood's season
- Dates per the orders
- 19 to 20 September 2020
- Départements
- Gard, Lozère, Hérault and Aveyron
- Flood type
- river flooding, runoff or mudflow
- Heaviest rainfall
- 400 mm
- in one day (Gard, 19 September 2020), SAINT ANDRE DE VALBORGNE station · per Météo-France
- 14 September 2020: 0 mm
- 15 September 2020: 0 mm
- 16 September 2020: 0 mm
- 17 September 2020: 0 mm
- 18 September 2020: 50 mm
- 19 September 2020: 400 mm
- 20 September 2020: 0 mm
- 21 September 2020: 10 mm
- 22 September 2020: 5 mm
450 mm from 17 to 19 Sep, up to the wettest day
The flood's dates
- Peak discharge
- 1,776 m³/s
- Le Gard à Anduze, on 19 September 2020 · 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.
5,512 species recorded in the declared communes
284 protected animal species among them and 38 protected plants
40 animal species threatened on the national Red List, protected or not (vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered)
184 Birds
36 Mammals, bats included
24 Reptiles
17 Insects
13 Amphibians
10 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, passage birdsOrtolan Bunting
Endangered, breeding birdsEurasian Tree Sparrow
Endangered, breeding birdsSouthern Grey Shrike
Vulnerable, breeding birdsEurasian Goldfinch
Vulnerable, breeding birdsEuropean Serin
Vulnerable, breeding birdsCommon Kingfisher
Vulnerable, breeding birdsEuropean Greenfinch
Vulnerable, breeding birdsGreater Flamingo
Vulnerable, breeding birdsZitting Cisticola
Vulnerable, breeding birdsWoodchat Shrike
Mammals, bats included
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.
2 ICPE-classified livestock farms located in the declared communes
Géorisques · ICPE331 livestock businesses in the SIRENE register based in the declared communes
SIRENE register · Insee12 veterinary practices based in the declared communes
SIRENE register · Insee18 animal protection associations based in the declared communes
National register of associations7 wildlife associations based in the declared communes
National register of associations
Of the 331 livestock businesses in the SIRENE register: 183 cattle, sheep, goat or pig farms, 30 horse farms, 11 poultry farms and 107 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.
- CévennesNational park core
- Les CévennesNatura 2000, Birds Directive
- Vallée du Gardon de MialetNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- Vallée du Gardon de Saint-JeanNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- Hautes Garrigues du MontpelliéraisNatura 2000, Birds Directive
- Vallées du Tarn, du Tarnon et de la MimenteNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- Pic Saint-LoupNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- Mont LozèreNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- Gorges de l'HéraultNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- Massif de l'Aigoual et du LingasNatura 2000, Habitats Directive
- Gorges de Rieutord, Fage et CagnasseNatura 2000, Birds Directive
- Hautes vallées de la Cèze et du LuechNatura 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
52 communes declared a natural disaster (flood) for this flood, département by département.
GardSee the 26 communes
Anduze, Avèze, Boisset-et-Gaujac, Cardet, Cassagnoles, Générargues, L'Estréchure, Le Vigan, Les Plantiers, Lézan, Mandagout, Massillargues-Attuech, Mialet, Peyrolles-en-Cévennes, Ribaute-les-Tavernes, Roquedur, Saint-André-de-Majencoules, Saint-André-de-Valborgne, Saint-Jean-du-Gard, Saint-Julien-de-la-Nef, Saint-Martial, Saumane, Sumène, Thoiras-Corbès, Tornac, Val-d'Aigoual
LozèreSee the 16 communes
Barre-des-Cévennes, Bassurels, Gabriac, Le Pompidou, Moissac-Vallée-Française, Molezon, Pont de Montvert - Sud Mont Lozère, Saint-André-de-Lancize, Saint-Étienne-Vallée-Française, Saint-Germain-de-Calberte, Saint-Hilaire-de-Lavit, Saint-Martin-de-Lansuscle, Saint-Michel-de-Dèze, Saint-Privat-de-Vallongue, Sainte-Croix-Vallée-Française, Vialas
HéraultSee the 9 communes
Balaruc-les-Bains, Brissac, Cazevieille, Cazilhac, Laroque, Mas-de-Londres, Poussan, Rouet, Saint-Mathieu-de-Tréviers
AveyronSee the commune
Campuac
Download this flood's data
In every file of the dataset, this flood carries the identifier EV-20200919-20200920-30.
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