Roughly half the United States was under serious drought conditions during the summer of 2002. The drought was occasionally punctuated by torrential rains. On September 13, 2002, for example, drought-stricken Denver was inundated by floods from a fast-moving thunderstorm that caused widespread flooding. Similar events took place south of Salt Lake City. Ten days later, a flooding cloudburst inundated similarly drought-stricken Atlanta. On September 10, 2002, six months' worth of rain fell in a few hours in the Gard, Herault, and Vaucluse departments in the south of France, drowning at least 20 people. In the village of Sommieres, near Nimes, a usually-tiny stream exploded to a width of 300 meters, cutting off road traffic.