October 3, 1988 disaster: the painful memory of the floods that killed eleven people in Nîmes

Une ville abasourdie après la catastrophe. DIAPOSITIVE – DOMINIQUE QUET

Devant la caserne des sapeurs-pompiers, le boulevard Sergent Triaire inondé. Midi Libre – Pierre Anisset

La piste des arènes sous l'eau. Midi Libre – Pierre Anisset

Under the railway bridges, flooded roads. Midi Libre – Pierre Anisset

Sur les grands axes, le chaos après les orages. Midi Libre – Pierre Anisset

De longs bouchons sur les principaux axes routiers. Midi Libre – Pierre Anisset

Des parkings de supermaché inondés, devenus lacs. Midi Libre – Pierre Anisset

The inhabitants of the Avenue Pompidou are horrified by this landscape of desolation. SLIDE – DOMINIQUE QUET

The vehicles near the railway track had been dragged by the water. Midi Libre – Pierre Anisset

The Jardins de la Fontaine became a pond of rubbish after the rains of October 3, 1988. Midi Libre – Pierre Anisset

Une vision du chaos nîmois du 3 octobre 1988. Midi Libre – Pierre Anisset

On October 3, 1988, Nîmes experienced one of the greatest disasters in its history with floods that left eleven dead, including two in a helicopter crash.

36 years later, the painful reference to the Nîmes floods of October 3, 1988 is still fresh in people's minds whenever a weather warning turns orange or even red. The risk is there, of course, which always encourages vigilance despite the immense work carried out over the years by the City, then by the Agglo, with the assistance of the State.

Eleven dead

On October 3, 1988, the figures for the disaster were striking: eleven dead, including two rescuers in a helicopter crash, immense material damage with 600 million euros at the very least, 45,000 homeless in several dozen affected municipalities. “Every Nîmes resident remembers this day precisely and what they were doing on October 3", indicated Mayor Jean-Paul Fournier in 2018 during a commemorative ceremony.

To remember this disaster better, Midi Libre invites you to review the photographs from the reports by Pierre Anisset and Dominique Quet.