Floods

Local floods can be catastrophic, like the one in 1900 described by Louis Tessier, a primary schoolteacher in Saint Roman, while on holiday in his native village: “Around noon, the atmosphere grew heavy with blackish clouds... At around 7 p.m., the storm headed north and soon the horizon all around was lit up by lightning... A deluge of rain hit the ground... At midnight, in profound darkness lit up by lightning, the alarm sounded... In the morning, the terrible news spread rapidly. The old mill at Vébron has been obliterated by the floodwaters, and all six members of the Goût family have been swept away...  Astié Mill has been destroyed, and all the bridges have lost their parapets... All that beautiful riverfront is now ruin and desolation - it seems like a bad dream...”