Deadly floods hit south of France

A French man spoke of his terror after a British woman died when floods battered the south of France.

The area has been swept by heavy downpours since Wednesday causing power cuts, blocked roads, and rail chaos with no trains circulating in the south-west until the end of November, according to the national railway company.

In Marseille, the heavy rains overflowed the port, flooding the city centre’s roads, where shops, pubs and coffee shops’ terraces had to close.

Alain, a city centre resident, said: “I couldn’t get out of my house: roads were completely flooded, I couldn’t even walk my dog. People had water up to their knees, some even used jet skis or small boats to go to places.”

Intense and violent storms have also hit the region with extreme gusts of wind between 68mph and 75mph, said Météo France.

The French Interior Minister stated: “This period of heavy rainfalls led to 1,773 interventions mobilising more than 2,000 firefighters and rescue workers to address this situation of crisis which has simultaneously impacted up to 8 departments.”

A British expat, 68, is among at least three casualties of these devastating floods.

For Alain: “This was a horrible experience. I had to take my wife to the train station but we found ourselves stuck in the middle of a flooded road, thank god people helped us to get our car out of that quagmire!”

The weather should be back to normal this weekend with high temperatures for the season, between 21 and 24°C, said Météo France.