October 2026 floods in the Southeast: disappearance and natural disaster status

In the night of October 20, 2026, Michaël Amsallem disappeared in Roquebrune-sur-Argens during the bad weather, and the gendarmerie launched a call for witnesses on October 23. On October 29, 184 municipalities in the Southeast were recognized as being in a state of natural disaster, including 32 in the Gard and 62 around Salon-de-Provence, while decrees also targeted 33 municipalities in the Gard and 26 in Vaucluse. The aftermath of these bad weather events notably led the SNCF to maintain rail restrictions in the Bouches-du-Rhône and reopened the debate on watercourse maintenance in Sainte-Maxime. Housing protection assistance schemes, such as Alabri in the Toulon area, have been mobilized, and residents have testified to their trauma. Residents have also mobilized in Martigues and Sausset-les-Pins to repair paths and the bed of the Grand Vallat, while the Métropole TPM has acquired a plot of land in Toulon to develop it as a flood expansion zone.