Bad weather: in Saint-Julien-de-Peyrolas and Goudargues, campsites suffered significant damage

The mobile homes at the Le Peyrolais campsite had their feet in the water on Monday before the flood receded. Midi Libre – correspondent

La “colère de la rivière” a pris au “dépourvu” les gérants du camping La Grenouille à Goudargues. Midi Libre – correspondant

L'heure est au nettoyage pour ces deux campings du Gard rhodanien qui pourraient retarder leur ouverture.

In Saint-Julien-de-Peyrolas, with the flooding of the Ardèche on Sunday, the Le Peyrolais campsite was still muddy, therefore impassable to vehicles yesterday. It is a beautiful wooded area, which extends over five hectares along the Ardèche river, with twenty-eight chalets and camping houses, ninety pitches for caravans and tents. There you will find all the holiday activities, namely bar and restaurant, numerous games areas…

The heavy rains that fell in the region last weekend swelled the river. The Sauze measuring station, in Saint-Martin-d’Ardèche, recorded a peak at 6.85 m on Sunday at 10 a.m. for a flow rate of 2706 m3/s. Thus, the currently deserted campsite, as with every major flood (the last in 2019), has transformed into a lake, this time with 1.30 m of water. "All superstructures were flooded. In the chalets built on stilts, there was 50 cm of water, the bedding was submerged, and in the reception and restaurant building, although well elevated, it was 80 cm. We were supposed to open in April, but it will probably be in May", specifies Delphine.

With some help, the Dubois couple began clearing and restoring the property. The insurer will come and make the report at the end of the week. The mayor, Claude Salau, visited the site on Sunday. He launched a call for volunteers from associations and residents of the village to come and lend a hand.

"The wrath of the river took us by surprise"

In Goudargues, Stella and Alexandre Niel, the new owners of the La Grenouille campsite, experienced their installation in a unique way. "We ordered the fixing systems last week, and didn't think we'd need them until the end of summer at the close of peak season. The anger of the river took us by surprise. We owe our salvation to the kindness of our mechanic neighbors who alerted us and then helped to evacuate and secure a caravan. During the night, with the water up to my boots, I tied the rentals to the trees in a rudimentary manner. I was thus able to limit the damage. If the rentals were gone, we were lost. There was no question of insurance: the company asks us for 10,000 € annual contribution, with 50,000 € deposit without covering natural disasters such as flooding." The managers therefore have a colossal job to restore everything before opening of their establishment scheduled for March 23, date of the first reservations taken by the former owners.