floods | Hello from the Five Star Vagabond

Breil Sur Roya devastated

October 6, 2020 by David Herd

Breil Sur Roya devastated

Breil Sur Roya devastated by storm Alex on October 4 2020, it destroyed dozens of houses and washed away roads in the mountainous border region north of Nice.

Riny Doyle

Ten years ago I spent 2 weeks in this beautiful French village as a guest of Riny Doyle & his partner Suzanne. We are dining on one of Riny’s specialties, wild boar pasta. I remember Riny saying the boar had to be frozen for 6 months before cooking. 🙂

Main street in Breil

The force of the flood water must have been incredible.

Cars submerged in mud.

Three more bodies have been discovered on the French side of the border with Italy after severe mountain flooding ravaged parts of both countries, leaving at least 12 dead.

It will take months to clean up

Sadly the village may never fully recover, many residents will be afraid the flood waters may return in the future.

Perhaps there was no warning

That may be the reason there were so many vehicles in the middle of the village.

Breil Sur Roya devastated

Barely hanging on to the edge of the cliff, how frightening is that?

Another one bites the dust

Totally heartbreaking for the residents of this beautiful village.

This home I’m sure will be demolished.

It’s difficult to see any other solution.

Breil Sur Roya devastated, such a sad sight

Another photo of the main street in the middle of Breil.

This is so hard to believe…

A simple reminder that we should never underestimate the awesome power of nature.

Compare the area above to 2010

From a tranquil setting to a scene of devastation.

A little roadwork needed here

How frightening would this have been for anyone driving on this busy road?

Flashback to 2010 with my friend Riny Doyle.

Also with me were two Australian friends, Jodie O’Neil & Deborah Holiday. Here is the message I got from Riny the day after the disaster; “no water no électricité no phone roads collapsed. A temp road-fix allowed me to go to next valley to let everyone know we are ok. Village is a disaster.”

Thanks for visiting my Breil Sur Roya devastated photo blog, my sympathy to all the residents who have suffered in this horrific event.

Lots more posts here;

Please check out my 2010 photo blog.

Please check out these fabulous posts

Gold Coast Pattaya Cinque Terre

Rio de Janeiro Singapore Eastern Europe

Bangkok Bars Tokyo Cape Town Safari

Counter only started October 7 2020.

This gallery contains 2 photos

Tropical storm floods Pattaya

April 4, 2015 by David Herd

Tropical storm floods Pattaya

Tropical storm floods Pattaya, when it rains it really pours down. I love to see the storm clouds roaring across Pattaya bay from my condo. You can can also watch from anywhere in the world on my webcam.

Here it comes

John Fogerty has a question….

I really love watching the black clouds roll in over the bay.

Is this a road or a river?

Looks more like a river to me. 🙂

Oh oh! This does not look good.

The roads flood so quickly as the drains just can’t handle the incredible volume of water. Often these storms only last for 30 or 40 minutes however that’s enough time to cause havoc.

LadyBoy in distress.

This LadyBoy looks a little concerned.

Houston, we have a problem

Hmmm what do I do now?

Helping hands

You see a lot of this during the storms.

Pattaya weather

South Rd near Tukcom.

My friend and I were relaxing in Starbucks watching the action.

No problem for the Baht bus.

The Song Tao or Baht bus ploughs straight through.

They won’t all make it

Believe me, not all these vehicles will get through.

Help is on the way

Tractor to the rescue.

The result

The beach gets smashed time and time again throughout the year this is the result.

Gutters can’t handle the volume

I don’t think there is any drainage system that can handle the sheer volume of storm water.

Repairs are needed

Sadly this in an all too familiar sight on Pattaya beach.

Soggy footpath

The aftermath of the storm.

Crazy idea

Here are 3 pumps to take the water from the flooded road onto the beach, don’t ask me to describe the logic behind this crazy idea. It simply washes away the sand as you can see in the above photos. One thing I do know however, logic and common sense are thin on the ground in Thailand.