Thanks to my dear friend Pelerin for alerting me to the fact that the Grotto is closed and under a metre of water. Nothing in our local paper, except about flooding in northern Spain. We expect something in the Sunday paper tomorrow. Will update you if so.
Our weather has been awful. It has rained incessantly for 36 hours and the roof is leaking!.
4 comments:
Following a video doing the rounds saying that the Grotto has been spared, a new video has just been shown on the website Lourdes-Infos.com showing the flooded Grotto as the waters have risen today.
The hotels all along the Avenue du Paradis have been or are being evacuated.
There is worry about the safety of the bridges owing to the speed of the river bringing down much rubbish including (according to one news report) washing machines and gas cookers which could damage the bridges.
Some local people are saying they have seen nothing like it in 40 years and more rain is due today.
Thanks to our Oasis 'Lourdes correspondent'. I think the local 'decheterie' must have been flooded to cause the threat to bridges that Pelerin describes here.
Ah - a decheterie would explain the washing machines etc! Was rather baffled at the report.
There are two dramatic videos on lourdes-actu.fr - one taken in the middle of the night and another today just a few hours later. The latter shows people being taken from their hotels by the local pompiers in boats. The speed of the river is quite frightning especially when it shows the waters actually going over one of the bridges near the Grotto.
Only two months ago I crossed this bridge several times during the heatwave. Hard to belive now looking at these scenes. When it finally subsides there will be much clearing up to be done as the water is very muddy.
I can find no information yet as to how the underground basilica has fared.
The clear up in the Grotto has started and the webcam is restored there. A fire engine , a couple of bulldozers and a lorry are now there emptying the sludge back into the Gave from whence it came.
Post a Comment