Richelieu is flooded by the River Mable

rue Traversière - East

On the 19 June 2013 there was a torrential storm over the cité idéale.  It only lasted a couple of hours but, on the 20th - 24 hours later, all that rain from the wide valley up-steam of the  town collected itself and was concentrated into the narrow river Mable - normally a stream - that flows past the town and feeds the moat of the walled city.  Straight through the majestic waterworks of the old château, it tried to flow away into the river Vienne (15km away), and thence into the 'mighty' Loire (30km).  Flooding was limited to the eastern side of the town, close to the rivers natural bed, but cellars throughout the town were filled and needed to be pumped out later by the Sapeurs Pompiers.  Water depths in places were a metre deep.

The last time that the town was flooded by the river Mable was in 1952, when the innundation reached the steps of the church (on the western side of the town).

The town's dwellers helped each other clear up and improvised getting the water out with water-vacuum-cleaners and any squeegee to hand to help scrape up the mud.

Everyone concerned checked the terms of their (mandatory) domestic insurance policy.

place Louis XIII

the Sapeurs Pompiers arrive

the 'false' gate

the Pizza restaurant in the moat

"Oh! my garden".

the moat overflows its normal restricted course

"My raised beds have risen too far!"

The Mable flows out of the town