France, a mountain village swept away by "torrential lava"

A well-known tourist destination in France was suddenly overwhelmed by the fury of a torrent.Enormous damage, only by pure chance there were no victims.

La Berarde it is a famous location for lovers of the mountains of France.Located in 1,727 meters above sea level in the municipality of Saint Christophe en Oisans, in the Isère department, is a perfect starting and ending point for hikers And mountaineers who want to exploit the peaks of the Écrins massif.However, it would now be necessary to speak in the imperfect, at least for some time.Since last Friday, in fact, all that remains of the tourist site ruins.

 On the village a "torrential lava" descended from the mountains

In the night, the Vénéon torrent in fact he violently broke them embankments, spilling over the village in just a few minutes it was totally submerged.Only by pure chance and by the courage of rescuers, no victims were recorded, but the material damage is gigantic.Numerous houses they were destroyed, the only way which allows access to the locality has been swept away and, similarly, some bridges they were dragged by the fury of the water. The population was evacuated with the only means available given the situation:The helicopters.

The geologist Thibaud Simon-Labric, speaking to the newspaper 20minutes, spoke of “torrential lava, or a flow of debris, mud, sand, stones and rock blocks even several meters wide and held back by the mountain and covered La Bérarde.this area is very wild and surrounded by peaks that reach up to 4 thousand meters above sea level, extremely steep compendiums”.

The Minister of Ecological Transition of France:“200 thousand cubic meters of water fell”

According to what was stated from the Minister of Ecological Transition of France, Christophe Béchu, "200 thousand cubic meters of water fell from the Vénéon valley, like 80 Olympic swimming pools", thanks to the thaw and torrential rains that hit the area, in which violent storms were reported.Such immense landslide viscous has also reached a speed particularly high, "to the point of having been able to demolish houses", added Simon-Labric.

The expert also specified that in the area "they had been registered for many weeks continuous rainfall that had made the waterways grow.There was also significant rainfall during the winter which created an important snow stock at more than 2,500 meters above sea level.The extreme phenomenon we experienced is therefore due to brutal storms and the atmospheric warming of recent days."But, more generally, the geologist underlines the “multiplication of extreme phenomena” linked to climate changes:“There are seasonal parameters, as in the case of the nervous mantle, but there are also the effects of global warming which increase its intensity."

The role of climate change in exacerbating extreme events

In La Bérarde, work has started to restore road connections and paths.They are also clearing out the rubble in the village e a reconstruction is being planned, with the aim of trying to save at least part of a summer season that now appears compromised.Hoteliers, restaurateurs, shopkeepers and managers of the numerous refuges in the surrounding mountains will pay the price.