Authorities in France have declared 45 municipalities in the southern Herault department to be natural disaster areas following heavy rainfall and flooding that hit the region earlier this autumn, broadcaster BFMTV reported on Tuesday. The decree covers damage caused by river flooding, surface water runoff and associated mudslides. The recognition allows residents and property owners with insurance coverage to benefit from compensation under France's natural disaster insurance scheme.
The 45 municipalities include Montpellier, Castelnau-le-Lez, Lattes, Lunel, Perols, Baillargues, Castries, Grabels, Juvignac, Saint-Jean-de-Vedas, Vendargues and Saint-Gely-du-Fesc. Applications from 10 other municipalities remain under review, with authorities requesting additional reports before making a decision. France has experienced several severe weather events in recent weeks, with torrential rainfall triggering flash floods across southern and southeastern regions.
Anadolu Agency reports that France has declared 45 municipalities in Herault natural disaster areas after heavy rainfall and flooding, and lists the towns and the insurance consequences accurately. It describes torrential rainfall and flash floods across southern France but never says that warming makes such extreme rainfall more frequent and more intense, so a reader takes the floods as plain bad weather.
Leaves out the climate link
Serious
“France has experienced several severe weather events in recent weeks, with torrential rainfall triggering flash floods across southern and southeastern regions.”
Why this matters
Anadolu Agency describes a run of severe weather, with torrential rainfall and flash floods across southern and southeastern France, and gives no cause beyond the weather itself.
The impression it gives
A reader comes away thinking these repeated floods are ordinary seasonal bad luck, with nothing behind them.
The context
Human-caused warming has made heavy rainfall more frequent and more severe (R2). The article never mentions climate change or warming, even in one line, while reporting repeated extreme rainfall that destroyed enough property to trigger a disaster declaration for 45 municipalities.
How we know
On the recordThat warming has made hot extremes, heavy rainfall, agricultural and ecological drought, fire weather and intense tropical cyclones more frequent or more severe.ipcc.ch (opens in a new tab)
Elsewhere in the article“following heavy rainfall and flooding that hit the region earlier this autumn”
Checked against the whole articleIt never uses the words “climate” and “warming”.
France has experienced several severe weather events in recent weeks, with torrential rainfall triggering flash floods across southern and southeastern regions. Climate change is making heavy rainfall like this more frequent and more intense.