The floods which occurred from March 1 to 4, 1930 in the Tarn basin are the worst natural disaster that the region has known. In Tarn-et-Garonne alone, there are 204 dead. Survivors share their stories.
Just 90 years ago, there was no flood forecaster or even an urban plan limiting construction in the floodplain. The houses were built of stone and earth. When the red waters of the Agout swell the Tarn at Saint-Sulpice-la-Pointe, the water rises to 22 meters and sweeps away the bridge located one meter below. No one gives the downstream alert. In the hours following this March 3, 1930, the Villubrumier bridge will be swept away by the waves, a wave will literally destroy the village of Reyniès where only the town hall and the church will remain standing.
No one in Montauban worries. On Saturday March 1 at midday, the Tarn marks 1.70 meters and the flow is important with more than 400 m3 / s (double than usual). Sunday, March 2 at noon, the water reaches 4.10 m and the double is reached at midnight. We then exceed the flood of March 1927 measured at 7.10 m, the only Tarn flood that the Montalbanais had experienced.
In Montauban, the Tarn remained at 11.5 m for five hours
The Tarn rises 40 cm per hour and at noon on Monday March 3, the scales of the Pont Vieux (10.5 m) are then exceeded and the ratings are now being judged. At 6 p.m., we reach 11.50 m at Montauban and the water level will remain at its highest for 5 hours. The districts of Sapiac and Villebourbon are submerged. Families take refuge on the roof of their house to wait for help. The organization is total. The young industrialist Adolphe Poult saves, at the risk of his life, hundreds of people on his canoe. 1092 houses will be destroyed in these two districts.
The flood continues its deadly progression downstream. It destroyed 102 houses in Albefeuille-Lagarde, 195 were taken to Barthes and Lizac. But the biggest drama is yet to come in Moissac where, on the night of March 3-4, 131 people will die after the break of a dike. “Of the 204 deaths recorded in the department, it should be known that the majority of the victims were crushed by the destruction of their house,” explains Nicolas Viaud, deputy head of the Knowledge and Risks service of the Departmental Directorate for Territories. At that time, the population was not aware of such a danger and above all had the reflex of staying confined at home rather than leaving the area to go to safety. “
Initially called “centennial flood”, it has since 1996 been recatalogated “five hundred year flood”. From a weather point of view, it would therefore be necessary to find an episode of ocean rains of several months saturating the soil with water which would be followed by a Cévennes episode with heavy accumulations of rain on the Black Mountain. According to forecasters statistics, we have a 1 in 500 chance each year of experiencing a similar phenomenon.
204 dead identified in Tarn-et-Garonne
The Tarn flood caused 194 deaths in the department, including 131 in Moissac alone. The death toll at Montauban reached 29 dead and could have been much heavier without the dedication of Adolphe Poult who saved hundreds of people. In Reyniès there are 14 victims. The Tarn also kills Albefeuille-Lagarde (6 people), Barry-d’Islemade (5) and Barthes (7). In the waters of the Garonne, there are 1 victim in Castelsarrasin and 2 in Valence-d´Agen. The flooding of the Aveyron also caused deaths in Albias (3), Bioule (1), Villemade (1) and Saint-Antonin (4).
(Sources: prefectural registers AD82-1MMS-3003)
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