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A major flood · 2014

Floods, Hérault and 5 other départements, September 2014

HéraultGardArdècheAveyronLozèreTarn
In blue, the communes declared for this flood: this blue is not the water. For this flood, the dataset has no observed flooded area. In coral, the Natura 2000 sites and those under regulatory protection. Hover over a département to read its name. Map: Animalert, from GASPAR (Géorisques), the Journal officiel (DILA) and IGN ADMIN EXPRESS

  • 273 communes under a natural disaster declaration (flood)

  • 347 protected animal species recorded in the declared communes in the ten years before the flood

  • 75 animal species threatened on the national Red List, protected or not

    birds: by their population in the flood's season
Dates per the orders
16 to 20 September 2014
Départements
Hérault, Gard, Ardèche, Aveyron, Lozère and Tarn
Flood type
river flooding, runoff or mudflow
Heaviest rainfall
403 mm
in one day (Ardèche, 18 September 2014), LA SOUCHE station · per Météo-France
  1. 13 September 2014: 0 mm
  2. 14 September 2014: 0.2 mm
  3. 15 September 2014: 0.3 mm
  4. 16 September 2014: 0 mm
  5. 17 September 2014: 75 mm
  6. 18 September 2014: 403 mm
  7. 19 September 2014: 26 mm
  8. 20 September 2014: 2.1 mm
  9. 21 September 2014: 0.8 mm

478 mm from 16 to 18 Sep, up to the wettest day

The flood's dates

Peak discharge
1,456 m³/s
Le Chassezac à Gravières - Les Salelles, on 19 September 2014 · 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.

  • 8,938 species recorded in the declared communes

  • 347 protected animal species among them and 63 protected plants

  • 75 animal species threatened on the national Red List, protected or not (vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered)

  • 224 Birds

  • 40 Mammals, bats included

  • 24 Reptiles

  • 21 Insects

  • 19 Fish, molluscs and crayfish

  • 19 Amphibians

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.

Fish, molluscs and crayfish

For fish, national protection (order of 8 December 1988) covers their eggs and spawning grounds: several are fished legally.

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.

  • 8 ICPE-classified livestock farms located in the declared communes

    Géorisques · ICPE

  • 1,318 livestock businesses in the SIRENE register based in the declared communes

    SIRENE register · Insee

  • 162 veterinary practices based in the declared communes

    SIRENE register · Insee

  • 136 animal protection associations based in the declared communes

    National register of associations

  • 40 wildlife associations based in the declared communes

    National register of associations

Of the 1,318 livestock businesses in the SIRENE register: 646 cattle, sheep, goat or pig farms, 127 horse farms, 45 poultry farms and 500 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.

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

273 communes declared a natural disaster (flood) for this flood, région by région, then département by département.

Download this flood's data

In every file of the dataset, this flood carries the identifier EV-20140917-20140919-34. Its dates were frozen when the identifier was created and differ here from the flood's.

Download the datasetdata.gouv.fr

Recognised and listed