Storms cause serious damage in the Avignon region
TWO DEAD

A storm of extreme violence struck on Tuesday, around 6:30 p.m., in the Rhone Valley, north of Avignon, causing considerable damage to the lines of the P.-L.-M. Company, and completely interrupting traffic on the lines of the left bank (Lyon-Marseille) and the right bank (Lyon-Nimes).

The first was invaded at Orange by the waters of the Eygues which, swollen by the torrential rains that fell recently in the lower valleys of the Alps, broke its dikes.
The Orange station was flooded and gullied. In some places, up to 50 centimeters of water were recorded. A collapse of the two main tracks occurred at kilometre 725 of the Paris-Marseille line, near Courtheson station, where the track collapsed for about ten metres. In addition, telegraph poles and wires fell onto the track, forming an inextricable tangle.

Regular passenger trains from Paris were restricted to Lyon. A reduced service of eight special trains was organised in each direction between Lyon and Marseille, via Carpentras-Cavaillon.

On the right bank (Lyon-Nîmes line via Le Teil), traffic was stopped from the night before last, at kilometre 727, due to a collapse of the two main tracks. The line was washed away over more than 700 metres. A 3-metre bridge, located between the stations of l'Ardoise and Saint-Geniès-Montfaucon, was swept away by a torrent. An isolated machine fell into the ravine and one of the agents who was operating this machine was killed. Among the rubble was also found the body of a soldier.

The trains were diverted by Alais. Mr. Mugniot, chief engineer of the P.-L.-M. Company, and the operations manager went to the scene of the disaster, and are supervising the track repair work in which the 70th engineer regiment of Avignon is cooperating. It was hoped, yesterday evening, to re-establish a track during the current day.

Faced with the seriousness of the situation, Mr. Victor Peytral, Minister of Public Works, who had instructed Mr. Gilles-Cardin, control engineer, to go to the site in the morning, decided to go to the disaster area himself. He left yesterday evening, accompanied by Mr. Simon, chief engineer, director of technical services of his office.

Grenoble flooded

Grenoble, September 24. For forty-eight hours, rain has been falling heavily in our city and in the region. Storms and tempests are raging. The Isère rose more than a meter this afternoon, bringing flooding to the lower quarters of the city. The Drac is furious. A landslide occurred at the springs of Fontaine-Galante, depriving the town of La Tronche of water. The road from Grenoble to Chambéry is cut off at Seismier. (Work.)

Airplanes ensure telegraph communications
Le Bourget, September 24. The telegraph and telephone lines being interrupted between Paris, Lyon and Marseille, following yesterday's violent squalls, the postal management sent a plane to carry the dispatches.
Left at 2 p.m. 10, in front of Mr. Drouin, director of Telegraph Operations at the Under-Secretariat of State of the P.T.T., the aircraft, piloted by Portal and loaded with a certain quantity of telegrams, made a stopover in Lyon.