Death toll likely to ‘go up’ in South-east French flash floods
The death toll in south-eastern France is expected to rise as rescue personnel pick through the debris left by flash floods. Some 20 people have been killed and at least 12 are still missing after heavy rain hit the mountains above the Cote d’Azur area on Tuesday.
“I fear the toll will go higher,” Hortefeux, the Interior Minister Brice said.
Some 2,000 rescue workers have been drafted-in to search for survivors through wreckage and flooded houses. A number of towns in the section of Val were affected, with hundreds of homes swamped. Rescue helicopters have been air lifting people to shelters, some from the roofs of their houses.
A lot of of those who died were trapped in their cars as waters surged through streets in the most horrible hit area, around the town of Draguignan. Water levels, which reached over two meters (six feet) in places, were said to be falling somewhat in Draguignan on Wednesday, though the rain was continuing in close by Roquebrune and Frejus.
Meteo France, the national weather service, had warned of additional storms on Wednesday night. They said up to 40cm (15.7in) of rain had fallen since Tuesday. The floods are the most horrible in the region since 1827, meteorologists say. “We have not ever seen so much rain in the month of June,” Patrick Galois of Meteo France told a news agency.
At least 1,000 people had to depart their homes and spend the night in schools or other temporary shelters, and some 175,000 houses were anticipated to have been left with no electricity. Rescue teams had move 436 prisoners from a jail in Draguignan after two floors flooded.
In Draguignan, numbers of cars are piled up on top of each other. It gives an idea of the frightening power of the flood. Survivors have been describing how a massive wave hurried toward them on the main double carriageway.
Rail and air services in the area were sporadic, and about 300 passengers travelling on an express train between Nice and Lille were trapped by the flood waters. The railway line between Toulon and Frejus will be closed until Thursday dawn.
President Nicolas Sarkozy offered condolences to the families of the sufferers, and pledged his support to rescue workers “mobilizing non-stop to supply aid and find those still misplaced”. He plans to visit the region early next week.
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