Floods, Landes and 2 other départements, December 2020
4,472 hectares of flooded area observed by Copernicus EMS over the mapped sectors
3,594 hectares in Natura 2000 or under regulatory protection
80% of the observed flooded area156 protected animal species recorded within reach in the ten years before the flood
6 animal species threatened on the national Red List, protected or not
birds: by their population in the flood's season
- Communes declared
- 54
- Dates per the orders
- 27 December 2020 to 16 January 2021
- Départements
- Landes, Gers and Lot-et-Garonne
- Flood type
- river flooding, runoff or mudflow
- Heaviest rainfall
- 75.1 mm
- in one day (Landes, 28 December 2020), BEGAAR station · per Météo-France
- 23 December 2020: 1.2 mm
- 24 December 2020: 7.6 mm
- 25 December 2020: 0 mm
- 26 December 2020: 0.2 mm
- 27 December 2020: 30.6 mm
- 28 December 2020: 75.1 mm
- 29 December 2020: 30.4 mm
- 30 December 2020: 28.1 mm
- 31 December 2020: 8.6 mm
105.9 mm from 26 to 28 Dec, up to the wettest day
The flood's dates
- Peak discharge
- 1,003 m³/s
- L'Adour à Dax, Pont des arènes, on 1 January 2021 · provisional Hub'Eau value, it can be revised
- Extent
- flooded area observed by Copernicus EMS over the mapped sectors
- 4,472 ha
Protected species recorded within reach
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.
979 species recorded within reach
156 protected animal species among them and 12 protected plants
6 animal species threatened on the national Red List, protected or not (vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered)
110 Birds
20 Mammals, bats included
11 Amphibians
8 Insects
6 Reptiles
1 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 within reach 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 within reach 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 "within reach or nearby".
Fish, molluscs and crayfish
Birds
The observations cover every season: a migrant bird recorded there may have been away on the day of the flood.
Mammals, bats included
Amphibians
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 within reach of the flood, 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.
No ICPE-classified livestock farm located within the flood's reach
Géorisques · ICPENo livestock business in the SIRENE register based within the flood's reach
SIRENE register · InseeNo veterinary practice based within the flood's reach
SIRENE register · InseeNo animal protection association based within the flood's reach
National register of associationsNo wildlife association based within the flood's reach
National register of associations
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. Associations are counted at their declared address: an association or a care centre based outside the area can work across all of it.
Protected areas within reach
Area of each site within reach of the flood, and the share of the site it represents. Natura 2000 and regulatory protection first, then the ZNIEFF.
- Barthes de l'AdourNatura 2000, Habitats Directive3,494 ha within reach28.5% of the site
- Barthes de l'AdourNatura 2000, Birds Directive2,435 ha within reach15.6% of the site
- Réseau hydrographique des affluents de la MidouzeNatura 2000, Habitats Directive65 ha within reach1.3% of the site
- L'AdourNatura 2000, Habitats Directive22 ha within reach0.6% of the site
- Barthe de Saint Martin de SeignanxBiotope protection order16 ha within reach3.9% of the site
- L'Adour de la confluence avec la Midouze à la confluence avec la Nive, tronçon des barthesZNIEFF type II (inventoried natural area)3,344 ha within reach25.0% of the site
- Barthe du GouaillardonZNIEFF type I (inventoried natural area)218 ha within reach67.2% of the site
- Zone humide du Sabla et barthe de ClémenceZNIEFF type I (inventoried natural area)177 ha within reach56.0% of the site
- Barthe du chêne aux cigognesZNIEFF type I (inventoried natural area)66 ha within reach42.5% of the site
- Réserve des Barthes et forêt communale de Pontonx-sur-l'AdourZNIEFF type I (inventoried natural area)46 ha within reach22.8% of the site
- Lit mineur et berges de l'Adour, des gaves réunis et du LuyZNIEFF type I (inventoried natural area)26 ha within reach2.0% of the site
- Vallées de la Midouze et de ses affluents, lagunes de la haute lande associéesZNIEFF type II (inventoried natural area)20 ha within reach0.9% of the site
A marsh can be designated twice under Natura 2000, for its birds and for its habitats: the areas overlap and do not add up. A ZNIEFF is a wildlife inventory, with no regulatory protection.
The declared communes
54 communes declared a natural disaster (flood) for this flood, département by département.
LandesSee the 43 communes
Aire-sur-l'Adour, Aureilhan, Aurice, Azur, Bas-Mauco, Bégaar, Bostens, Bougue, Callen, Candresse, Capbreton, Carcen-Ponson, Cauna, Dax, Gousse, Gouts, Josse, Losse, Magescq, Mont-de-Marsan, Montsoué, Narrosse, Onard, Pey, Préchacq-les-Bains, Rivière-Saas-et-Gourby, Saint-Geours-de-Maremne, Saint-Gor, Saint-Jean-de-Lier, Saint-Paul-lès-Dax, Saint-Perdon, Saint-Pierre-du-Mont, Saint-Sever, Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, Saubusse, Saugnac-et-Cambran, Soustons, Tartas, Tercis-les-Bains, Téthieu, Toulouzette, Vicq-d'Auribat, Yzosse
GersSee the 10 communes
Auch, Barcelonne-du-Gers, Castelnau d'Auzan Labarrère, Castillon-Debats, Mauvezin, Montréal, Peyrusse-Grande, Preignan, Roquelaure, Vic-Fezensac
Lot-et-GaronneSee the commune
Poudenas
Download this flood's data
In every file of the dataset, this flood carries the identifier EV-20201228-20201229-40. 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









