Red from the Sarrabus to Gallura, yellow from Hérault to Var, and schools shut a day ahead

Sardinia’s civil protection has issued a red alert, its highest level of hydrogeological risk, for the east of the island, from the Sarrabus through Ogliastra and the Baronia to Gallura^1,2. It runs until 23:59 on Thursday 5 November; the rest of the island is on yellow¹. The regional outlook quoted by L’Unione Sarda expects scattered strong thunderstorms between Ogliastra and the Baronie, with rainfall totals “locally up to very high” and gale-force gusts in the storms².

What happened next is the part worth noticing. By Wednesday, a day ahead, the mayors of Olbia and Nuoro had signed orders closing schools for Thursday¹. Olbia also shut public offices that receive visitors, keeping minimum services, plus its cemeteries, its urban park and its sports grounds¹. Nuoro closed schools of every kind, university sites, the library, museums, nurseries, parks and outdoor sports grounds¹. Lanusei and Castiadas were heading the same way, and ANSA expected the list to grow¹. In Cagliari, on yellow, the city published the streets where you should not park in case of flooding, and a car park to move to instead².

Across the water, the same pattern is a “durable Mediterranean episode”, in Météo-France’s words, on the coast from Hérault to Var³. Var, Gard, Bouches-du-Rhône, Hérault and both Corsican départements are on yellow for storms from Wednesday to Friday 6 November³. The forecaster expects the rain to intensify on Wednesday evening and continue all of Thursday, with large totals, especially on Corsica’s eastern side, and says a higher rain-flood warning is possible³.

None of these notices is dramatic, and that is the point. A colour code, a mayor’s signature and a list of streets do not stop water. They move people out of its way before it arrives. If you are travelling to Sardinia, Corsica or the Provence coast on Thursday, check the local warnings before you set off, not on the road.