Storm Nils leaves 1 dead, 850,000 homes without power in France

By Necva Tastan Sevinc

ISTANBUL (AA) - A truck driver died and nearly 850,000 households were left without electricity as Storm Nils battered southern and southwestern France with violent winds, flooding and avalanches on Thursday.

The man was killed in the Landes department near the town of Mees after a tree branch fell onto his truck, BFMTV reported.

France’s national weather agency, Meteo-France, placed four departments, Savoie, Aude, Gironde and Lot-et-Garonne, under red alert for risks ranging from avalanches and high winds to severe flooding.

Power grid operator Enedis said around 850,000 homes were without electricity as of early morning, including 485,000 in Nouvelle-Aquitaine and 318,000 in Occitanie, the regions hardest hit by the storm.

Overnight, wind gusts reached up to 162 km/h (101 m/h) in Biscarrosse in the Landes region. Gusts of 157 km/h were recorded in Lege-Cap-Ferret (Gironde), 132 km/h in Millau (Aveyron) and 125 km/h in Toulouse, levels described by forecasters as unprecedented for the month of February in some areas.

In Aude, where red alert remains in force for violent winds, around 17,000 homes were without power across about 40 municipalities. More than 600 Enedis workers were mobilized, alongside 769 firefighters and dozens of police and gendarmes.

Flood warnings were extended in Gironde and Lot-et-Garonne, with officials warning that river levels along the Garonne could rise further in the coming hours.

In Langon, water levels more than doubled within 48 hours, climbing from 3.80 meters to over 7 meters (23 feet). In Cadillac, levels surpassed 6 meters and were expected to approach or exceed previous flood records set in 2018 and 2006.

Around 30 residents were evacuated overnight in La Reole in Gironde as a precaution.

According to the flood monitoring service Vigicrues, 29 river sections were under orange alert, with “major overflows expected in the next 24 hours.” The agency warned that successive heavy rainfall in recent weeks had created conditions conducive to rapid flooding.

- Avalanche risk at highest level in 17 years

In the Alps, authorities raised avalanche risk to level 5, the highest warning, in parts of Savoie, describing the situation as exceptional and unseen in 17 years.

Several ski resorts, including La Grave, were closed, while others, such as Alpe d’Huez and Les Deux Alpes, partially suspended operations. Resort officials urged skiers to remain strictly on marked trails as avalanche control operations continued.

An additional 32 departments, from Brittany to Corsica, were placed under orange alert for high winds, heavy rain, flooding or coastal submersion, as Storm Nils continued its path across the country.