| The Flood | |
| Title Orig: | L'Inondation |
| Author: | Émile Zola |
| Country: | France |
| Language: | French |
| Genre: | Short story |
| Release Date: | 1880 |
| Media Type: | |
L'Inondation (The Flood) is an 1880 novella by Émile Zola. Set in the village of Saint-Jory, several miles up the Garonne from Toulouse, it is the story of a family tragedy, told by its patriarch, seventy-year-old Louis Roubieu.
On a beautiful May day, the Garonne floods, washing away all the bridges; ruining nearly two thousand houses; drowning hundreds; and leaving twenty thousand starving to death. The novella describes the immediate impact this flood has on one household.