La situation de 1856 est-elle reproductible ? Illustration pour le Rhône aval à partir de l’expérience de la crue de décembre 2003

Example for the south part of the Rhône River, from the 2003 flood experience

DIREN Rhône-Alpes, bassin Rhône-Méditerrannée

Auteur de correspondance : aurelie.roy@rhone-alpes.ecologie.gouv.fr

Abstract

Example for the south part of the Rhône River, from the 2003 flood experienceThe flood of May-June 1856 is the most important and well documented flood on the Rhône’s delta. Its flow is estimated at about 12500 m³/s at the place of Beaucaire. Since then, many important civil engineering works on the Rhône River have modified the flooding process. The event of December 2003 (estimated at 11500 m³/s, +/-5 %) gives an example of the impact caused by an important flood nowadays. Main damages have been caused by the breaking of civil engineering works and development of human activities in flood plains. The feedback on this flood confirms an estimated cost of billion €. It also highlights the difficulty to get reliable estimation of exposed goods.