Torrential Rains in France Cause Flooding on Collonges-sous-Salève Campus
19 June 2024 |
The Adventist Review reported that on June 9, torrential rains struck Savoie and Haute-Savoie, causing damage to Collonges-sous-Salève, home to the Adventist University of France (Salève Adventist campus). Regional emergency services were deployed to help the campus and surrounding areas that suffered damage.
Firefighters in Collonges-sous-Salève responded to a local nursing home that had flooded, and emergency teams set up a generator to enable the safety of 80 residents onsite. The storms also forced the closure of the private vocational high school Saint-Vincent and a local restaurant due to flooding, temporarily leaving nine employees without work. The storm cut off power to half of the homes in the municipality for several hours.
On the A40 motorway leading to Chamonix, a mudslide at 6:30 p.m. closed the route between Saint-Julien-en-Genevois and Annemasse for the night, scattering mud and debris across both lanes. Traffic authorities organized detours through secondary roads while they worked on clearing and reopening the motorway.
The Salève Adventist campus, itself, suffered significant flooding in several facilities including the main auditorium and the Jean Weidner residence, which had its basement hostel flooded, affecting the belongings of a group of high school students from the West Indies who were visiting the campus.
Despite the extensive damage, the campus reported no injuries.
