Bedload transport and floods in newspapers from 1957

Bedload transport and floods in newspapers from 1957 to 2010 (Maurienne and Grésivaudan, France) Silvia Flaminio, Emeline Comby et Yves-François Le Lay

1. Introduction and hypotheses 2. Material and methods 3. Some results 4. Discussion

Why using newspapers to provide information on social and environmental stakes? • Do the media help understand risks in a retrospective approach? – Citizens are informed by experiments, social relations and medias – Crisis is a critical situation usually covered by medias • The newspapers – Construction of public perception – Reflect of some attitudes • A reliable source? – Some lacks – Some biases – But a medium of information about the environment

Objectives • Aim: To understand the public perception of fluvial landscapes by a geo-historical approach. • Hypothesis 1: Sediment is frequently evoked in flood tales. It could negatively influence flood accounts. • Hypothesis 2: Alluvium is unevenly mentioned throughout the period studied (1957 -2010). Some evolutions could be highlighted as public perception of risk has evolved.

0 10 20 km

Why did we choose this field? The valleys of the Isère River and the Arc River • A strongly artificialised floodplain • Some braided reaches and sedimentary deposits • Some dams and many dikes • Urban sprawl (Grenoble urban area) Dams in the Isère catchment Grenoble

Floods and floodings Le Dauphine Libéré, 2005

1. Introduction and hypotheses 2. Material and methods 3. Some results 4. Discussion

Material • a chronology of floods in the Maurienne and Grésivaudan valleys • the Dauphiné Libéré (regional daily newspaper) • 209 articles over a period of 63 years EPIQ, 2009

Methods - Data gathering - Digitalization - OCRization Spirit level Digital camera Laptop Deport Tripod Cable Pedal

Import format

1. Introduction and hypotheses 2. Material and methods 3. Some results 4. Discussion

The sample of articles

Content analysis – themes of floods

Quoted places • Municipalities endommaged by floods • Mentions of sedimentary deposit / mentions of floods

Concordance

Partition and lexical table

The F 1 axis reveals two oppositions: - a semantic and historical break (1990’s). - a contrast between slow floods and flash floods The F 2 axis is structured by the following themes: - in the top half, theme of the floodplain - in the bottom half, theme of the channel.

Plan 1. Introduction and hypotheses 2. Material and methods 3. Some results 4. Discussion

Hypothesis 1 • Sediment deposit is constantly evoked: – Alluvium is mostly mentioned during great floods. – An aggravating factor of the destructive power of the stream (extensive damage and desolation). • Mostly found once the flood levels have fallen, when the newspapers recount the floods' aftermath. – focus on mud, – and water is no longer described. "The mountain keeps crumbling away, collapsing in the most inexorable and frightening way: stones and masses of soil are piling up more and more in the stream" (Le Daupiné Libéré, July the 11 th, 1965) "The mountainous roads have been transformed into streams, masses of gravel have piled up in every bend of the road" (Le Dauphiné Libéré, September the 8 th, 1982)

Hypothesis 2 In time In space

Thanks Modane, June 20 th, 1957 Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, June 15 th, 1957 Haute Maurienne, October 16 th, 2000