A Cannes-Do Attitude Tackles the Aftermath of Torrential Rains

Through mud and rats and infrastructure issues, tourist destinations on the French Riviera are cleaning up in the aftermath of torrential rainstorms that caused massive flooding in Nice, Cannes, Antibes, and other nearby areas last weekend, and left 20 dead.

While the local press reported a plague of rats pushed out of the sewers onto the beaches, they quoted tourism officials as saying an enormous clean-up effort has most of the Cote d’Azur rapidly improving. Michae Tschann, president of the Hoteliers Union in Nice, said they have not received any cancellations for future bookings as of yet.

But Deadline Hollywood International yesterday reported that Mipcom, “the world’s biggest TV market,” cancelled its opening night Red Carpet event, saying in a statement that “following the heavy flooding over the weekend, the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez is not in a position to host the Red Carpet.” 

“The Cannes train station’s lines are currently still underwater, meaning some French execs may have a hard time getting to town from Paris,” Deadline Hollywood reported. “The A8 highway that leads into town is down to one lane.”

Rail travel was most affected, said the French Government Tourist Office in New York, with widespread cancellations and delays following a seven-inch torrent of rain that fell within two hours and turned the region’s quaint streets into rushing rivers.

“Most of the flights and trains are back to normal now,” an FGTO spokesman said Tuesday, but tourists without travel insurance were hit hard. “The rail networks weren’t refunding tickets since this was a natural disaster, so people who had non-refundable tickets and no travel insurance had to buy new tickets, which were usually more expensive.”

“Unfortunately, the cleanup continues,” said Doron Levy of The TopTier.net, a luxury travel marketing company. “Flooding is the worst in the coastal areas and since the waters have receded, damage to buildings and cars is now more visible.

“It will be a few more days before basic infrastructure is back to normal. I don’t believe they are ready for any tourist activities as of yet.”

Over the weekend, more than 1,000 Italian pilgrims were trapped overnight in trains from the Lourdes shrine, and at least seven died trying to move their cars from underground garage.

River cruise line AmaWaterways, which offers southern France itineraries, said its routes and itineraries were not affected by the floodwaters. A spokeswoman for river line CroisiEurope also said she knew of no problems with that line’s operations.

Hotels in Nice and Cannes, such as Radisson Blu properties in both cities, were operating normally throughout the crisis, a spokeswoman said.

Pic: Youtube