Le déluge, c’est maintenant

We got another inch of water in the rain gauge overnight. That's 25 millimeters, added to the 18 mm we dumped out of the gauge yesterday morning. Today we are under an orange alert for heavy rains and local flooding.

The big red dot toward the top of the map is Paris, and the smaller one to the south is Saint-Aignan. The orange alert expires at 4 p.m. today but could well be extended.

On Télématin they just said that Paris has broken an old record (from 1992) for the most rain the city has ever before recorded — 132 mm — in the month of May. The weather presenter said that so far, they've had 150 mm in Paris this month. Here in Saint-Aignan, we've recorded 157 mm since May 1. That's more than three times the average.

Everything outdoors sure is green, but the peonies look beaten down.

And guess what — it's still raining, and we might get another inch of rain today, if we are to believe the forecasts. We haven't had any real flooding here, though water did come in under the garage door downstairs — the house is built on a concrete slab — and under the back door. There are big puddles on both the garage and utility room floors. No damage has been done, though. We haven't, knock on wood, seen any sign of roof leaks, and we haven't had any hail or high winds.