The bad weather is raging in the region of Hautes-Pyreneeswhere overnight floods have partially inundated the Sanctuary of Lourdesforcing the cave to be closed to visitors. This was reported David Torchladirector of communications for the sanctuary, specifying that «the water rose very quickly», causing damage that «cannot yet be estimated», but assuring that «there were no injuries».
The floods were caused by heavy rains that caused the river to overflow. Pau’s Gavethe watercourse that runs through the city, causing the grotto of the sanctuary of Lourdes to flood around 2am. “The water is receding at the moment,” added the same source.
With the exception of the cave, the rest of the sanctuary is still open to the public and pilgrims are present on site, while the celebrations planned in the cave have been moved.
Weather France has placed the region of Hautes-Pyrenees under alert for rain and floods from yesterday until midnight today. The Hautes-Pyrénées firefighters confirmed that “there were many floods” this morning too. Around thirty people were brought to safety in municipal buildings by emergency services, while around 500 people remained without electricity in a municipality located south of Lourdes.