Heavy storms in southern France have killed one person and left two others missing today.
Eighty per cent of country roads in the Gard region, north of Nimes, were flooded and closed to all traffic. Over 1,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes.
Police found a body in the Gard village of Fons yesterday. In the same village, another person, thought to be dead, was still missing today after the freak floods, police said. In the nearby village of Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres another person was also missing.
In the Ardeche region, just north of Gard, more than 400 people were evacuated from six camp sites threatened with flooding.
West of Nimes, a fireman was in critical condition in the Herault region, which was among the worst hit areas. He was rushed to hospital in Montpellier after losing consciousness while trying to rescue two people trapped in a car by rising floodwater.
"The situation remains very alarming," said a police spokesman in the town of Nimes, north of the Rhone delta. The situation was particularly worrying around Sommieres, near Nimes, where a seven-metre flood wave was expected in the morning, he said.
The weather forecast was for more heavy rain in the south of France until this afternoon.
AFP
