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The city of Rouen, one of the largest in the kingdom of France, had been subject to weather risks such as excessive rainfall, intense cold or storms since its foundation. These extreme climate episodes had direct consequences (destructions of buildings, breaking of communication networks) or indirect consequences (reduction in the food supply, disease outbreaks). Beginning in the Middle Ages, confronted with that vulnerability, the authorities used more or less efficient strategies to lessen the negative effects of those risks before and after they took place. In the 18th century, the intellectual and scientific movement of the Enlightenment reached Rouen. Through the promotion of modern hygiene, urban, agricultural and commercial measures, the men of the Enlightenment endeavoured to improve every aspect of urban resilience. The purpose of this article is to assess the degree to which Enlightenment ideas penetrated Rouen’s society and were applied there.