At least three people have died in storms and flooding in southern France, local authorities said late on Wednesday, as authorities in western France prepared for a storm approaching from Ireland, Reuters reported from Paris on Thursday.
Source: Reuters
Three people died and one person was injured in the flooding, Reuters said, and in Mouriès and Saint-Martin-de-Crau, two small towns between Montpellier and Marseille, dozens of people were being housed in emergency shelters.
Agence France-Presse, citing local authorities via Le Figaro, reported details of the victims in the Bouches-du-Rhône department: two women, aged 86 and 26, drowned in a basement in the commune of Lançon-Provence, northwest of Marseille, and a 75-year-old man died in Istres after being swept away by torrents of water.
Source: AFP via Le Figaro / Oreanda-News
“The water has risen to unprecedented levels,” Jacques Witkowski, the prefect of the Bouches-du-Rhône region, said in a statement late on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
The weather in the south was expected to calm, while a storm was expected to hit western France overnight on Thursday. Storm Austen is expected to bring heavy winds across the northwest, Météo-France, the country's weather agency, said, according to Reuters.
What is solid
- Three people died and one was injured in flooding in southern France, local authorities said late on Wednesday (Reuters).
- Dozens of people were being housed in emergency shelters in Mouriès and Saint-Martin-de-Crau.
- Météo-France says Storm Austen will bring heavy winds to the northwest on Thursday night.
What is only claimed
- Early reports give differing levels of detail on where each victim died; AFP's account names Lançon-Provence and Istres, and authorities were still confirming the full picture.