In 1967, Barbra Streisand did a concert in New York City that was recorded on an album entitled “A Happening in Central Park.” It must have been a fabulous concert for the album is terrific. I not only love Barbra Streisand’s voice, but I enjoy her sense of humor. As part of the monologue leading up to the song “Marty the Martian,” she did a brief excerpt from “The Sound of Music” singing “The hills are alive and it’s pretty frightening” with a wavering vibrato. I looked for the excerpt on YouTube but it’s not there – only on the album. Oh well… It’s humorous.
With global warming, we are seeing changes in the climate everywhere. We’re also seeing the intensities of storms and hurricanes increase alarmingly. My take is that Mother Nature is letting us know she’s not a happy camper. And it seems the infrastructure in this part of the world is unprepared.
The flooding is wiping out villages alongside rivers and houses, vehicles, bridges and people are simply swept away. In October 2018, flash flooding on the Aude River wreaked havoc and 14 people died, including a number of people in Trèbes, just outside of nearby Carcassonne, and only a mere 16 miles away.
Fortunately my village is on a hilltop and not close to any rivers. So we are safe – except for variations in temperature. In 2019, we had three canicules which are prolonged periods of heat. The temperature was up to 104 F. This year, we frequently had temperatures in the 90s, but to my knowledge, it never reached 100 F.
I know we weren’t alone with elevated temperatures as the US has similarly suffered. But given the local agriculture and viniculture, there are tragic implications.
Drought is taking over many parts of France. This map is updated by the government daily and some areas already have water restrictions – mine included. Though we have had significant rains in the past two weeks, apparently we are still not out of the danger zone as the rating for my part of the department (the northwest part of the Aude, Department 11 on the map) remains unchanged. You can also see that many parts of the country remain in the red zone with severe water restrictions.
Two days ago, Tempête Alex travelled from the northwest in Brittany to the southeast of the country, known as the Alpes-Maritime region which includes Nice. The storm reportedly had winds well over 186 km/hour (roughly 120 mph) and the accumulated rainfall in a matter of 12 hours was equivalent to the annual average precipitation.
In the area behind Nice (to where I travelled in July), more than 20 people are missing, including two firefighters, and over 140 people have been rescued via helicopter. The bodies of two of those disappeared were found today. A missing gendarme was found alive. Villages in that part of France and adjoining Italy have lost all contact given power outages and the rescue attempts continue.
What is also alarming, is that this isn’t a one-off event. In the past few months there have been other storms that have equally caused incredible flooding and people are literally washed away. Old construction just isn’t ready for this.
A week ago, temperatures in my part of the country plummeted and the big news was snow in the Pyrenées, much earlier than expected. Roads were impassable and power lost in some of the higher areas.
It has been suggested that this part of France, a major wine production region, will lose its vineyards with increased average temperatures. The future of wine may be in the north, even England and Denmark. Air conditioning will save we residents, but what will life be like? We still have our historic castles, cathedrals and abbeys. But what will sustain the economy? Already winemakers are looking at varieties that will withstand the heat and have a lower dependency on water. The jury is out.
As Barbra Streisand put it more than 50 years ago, the hills are alive and it’s pretty frightening.
What a sobering post. It’s difficult to be positive (or hopeful) at this point in history–it doesn’t feel like people have genuinely woken up to what is happening to the environment and the work and sacrifice we will have to do to correct past behavior. Here at home (the U.S.), I fear that the west coast and the Pacific northwest may not be the same for a century–if ever–even if we begin to do the hard stuff to save our planet.
When looking at the photos on your blog, I think you must have some optimism and hope as you look at the beauty around you. The people you meet there also seem to have some resilience or capacity to recover. I hope so. In the meantime, I will keep reading your blog and dreaming of a day (sooner than later I hope) when I can return to France. Perhaps take a trip to the south and say hello?
That would be awesome. I hope that day can happen soon.
Regarding being resilient (and I mentioned this in one of my postings), one of the French teachers here said that we who come from another country to live in France are “audacious.” In other words, we were daring to take the leap. And I suppose she is right. It doesn’t always feel great because of the absence of friends and family. But as I make friends here, it becomes more comfortable and secure. I’m coming up on two years of ownership November 16, and my home, particularly as I do the renovations, is indeed becoming more my own. Progress.
Tom, felicitations on the new blog, love it! This is a sobering post, though. I had no idea the flooding was so bad. We’ve suffered similar things in Charleston, which will be underwater soon! And here in Beaune, a bad drought, as you’ve had. Frightening indeed.
Thank you, Lynn. I’m glad you are enjoying my blog. It is a labor of love and I hope it becomes half as good as your own! (And for my friends, please check out Lynn’s blog at http://www.southernfriedfrench.com. It is very entertaining!)
Almost no place on earth is able to escape global warming, sadly. Thanks for reporting how it impacts you. Love your observations and vigilance. Kristin
Almost no place on earth is able to escape global warming, sadly. Thanks for reporting how it impacts you. Love your observations and vigilance. Kristin
Here in CA. fires have been the concern, other than politics. I watch TV5Monde everyday to follow french news. I’m grateful for this connection though news there isn’t much better than in the US.
What is your village?
Bonsoir!
Yes, the fires in California have been devastating and alarming as harbingers of the future – much like Australia. Hopefully soon we will have a meaningful plan addressing global warming and begin to reverse the trend.
My village is Montréal in the Aude department (there are purportedly six villages named Montréal in France in addition to Quebec). We’re about 15 km west of Carcassonne and 80 km southeast of Toulouse. The village numbers about 2000 people, with maybe 1000 in the actual village and the rest in the surrounding countryside. Montréal is historic in terms of having been a Cathar stronghold and the scene of arbitration between St. Dominic representing Pope Innocent III and the Cathar knights.Had those negotiations been successful, there wouldn’t have been an Inquisition.
Our church (Collegiale St. Vincent) dates back to the 14th century and has a rather famous pipe organ from the 18th century, currently under restoration. As I am also an organist, I hope to get my hands on it one day. Just outside our village and in charge of the organ program lives Philippe Lefebvre, head organist at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Needless to say, we have a pretty energetic music program with an annual concert staged in the church.