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Back to the disaster that affected Auch during the summer of 1977, a catastrophe recalled by the sculpture by the Catalan artist Jaume Plensa “The Observatory of Time”. This sculpture, made up of 3 elements, often appeals to the walker when he takes themonumental staircase d’Auch… Here are the facts:
The flood of the century in Auch
After a very rainy spring causing rivers to overflow, Gascony is experiencing a new episode of heavy precipitation associated with melting snow in the Pyrenees. This episode, which affected the south-west of France, between the Dordogne and the Pyrenees, on July 6, 7 and 8, 1977, took place in two phases: the first took place from the south of Charente-Maritime to the Pyrénées-Atlantiques on the night of the 6th to the 7th and the second from Lot-et-Garonne to the central Pyrenees from the evening of the 7th to the late morning of the 8th. In Auch, it rained continuously for 17 hours (from 7/ 07 at 20 p.m. to 8/07 at 10 a.m.). The waters of the Gers have risen by nearly 3 meters in less than 45 minutes to reach a height of 7m76 at the Treille bridge, drowning the entire lower town. This event caused 16 victims. The damage was immense: Gers had more than 6000 victims, including 5000 in Auch, 2200 houses damaged and 18 bridges swept away.
Virtual exhibition
To find out more about this disaster, story map (cartographic story) was produced:
