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'Venice without the gondolas': residents battle overflowing rivers in western France

VIDEO SHOWS: RESIDENTS BUILDING FLOOD BARRIERS TO PREVENT OVERFLOWING LOIRE RIVER TO REACH THEIR HOUSES / SOUNDBITES OF RESIDENTS / DRONE VIEWS OF OVERFLOWING RIVER

RESENDING WITH SHOTLIST, COMPLETE SCRIPT TO FOLLOW

SHOWS: LES PONTS-DE-CE, FRANCE (FEBRUARY 18, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. (MUTE) DRONE VIEW OF OVERFLOWING LOIRE RIVER

2. VARIOUS OF RIVER

3. VARIOUS OF RESIDENT, THIERRY FOURNIER, BUILDING FLOOD BARRIER TO PREVENT WATER FROM REACHING GARDEN

4. (SOUNDBITE) (French) RETIREE AND RESIDENT, THIERRY FOURNIER, SAYING:

"I'm building a small flood barrier to keep the water from coming too far into the garden. There you go. I don't know if it'll stop it, but hey, at least we're doing something."

5. (MUTE) DRONE VIEW OF FLOODWATER REACHING GARDENS' EDGE

6. WOMAN WALKING ON MAKESHIFT WALKWAY

7. WATER BEING PUMPED OUT OF GARDEN

8. VARIOUS OF DENTAL TECHNICIAN, SEBASTIEN GRASSIOT, LOOKING OUT PRACTICE WINDOW

9. (SOUNDBITE) (French) DENTAL TECHNICIAN, SEBASTIEN GRASSIOT, SAYING:

"Right now, you can see the water level rising, rising, rising. You can see the road is no longer passable, nor are the sidewalks. A small makeshift walkway has been built by the town of Les Ponts-de-Ce, and it feels a bit like Venice at the moment, except we don't have gondolas. I'm kind of laughing about it, but it's not really funny. My neighbours are flooded, and I feel a bit sorry for them, I admit."

10. (MUTE) DRONE VIEW OF LOIRE

11. WATERS FLOWING OUT OF SEWER

12. (SOUNDBITE) (French) RETIREE AND RESIDENT, JEAN-PIERRE BONDU, SAYING:

"Well, we're doing what the neighbour over there is doing, we're protecting ourselves. I was the last one flooded in '82. So I put sheet piling in front of the door, well, marine plywood with silicone sealant, and all that. I didn't have any water coming in from the street, but it still seeped into the house. But, well, we old-timers in the neighbourhood are used to these floods. Back in the day, it was worse. They had hooks in their houses and they'd pull the furniture up with ropes."

13. FEET ON WALKWAY,

14. MAN WALKING ON WALKWAY

15. VARIOUS OF INFLATABLE DIKE

16. (MUTE) DRONE VIEW OF WATER RECHING BUILDINGS

17. VARIOUS OF RESIDENTS TENDING TO FLOOD BARRIERS

18. (SOUNDBITE) (French) GREEN TRANSITION CONSULTANT HELPING OUT NEIGHBOUR, YOAN, SAYING:

"There's a sense of community, people are generally reassured. So yes, that's how it is, we're on the banks of the Loire. There are advantages to being on the banks of the Loire almost all year round, but from time to time it overflows, that's all."

19. (MUTE) VARIOUS DRONE VIEWS OF OVERFLOWING LOIRE RIVER