France Storm with heavy flooding - one dead in Paris
Some places in France have experienced rainfall on a scale not seen for a long time.
Image: Keystone
Around 1500 firefighters are working in the affected region.
Image: Keystone
Heavy rainfall is causing flooding in parts of France.
Image: Keystone
Some places in France have experienced rainfall on a scale not seen for a long time.
Image: Keystone
Around 1500 firefighters are working in the affected region.
Image: Keystone
Heavy rainfall is causing flooding in parts of France.
Image: Keystone
Heavy rain leads to flooding in France. The authorities urge caution. In Paris, a man is killed by a falling tree.
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- Large amounts of rain have caused flooding, evacuations and closed highways and railroad lines in parts of France.
- In the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, around 900 people and a number of schools had to be evacuated and television footage showed flooded highways, supermarkets and cars floating in the water.
- In Paris, a man was reportedly killed by a falling tree in the evening.
Large amounts of rain have caused flooding, evacuations and closed highways and railroad lines in parts of France. In Paris, a man was killed by a falling tree in the evening, according to media reports.
The weather service Météo France issued the highest warning level of red for 6 departments in the southern half of the country and orange in 34 departments. More rain fell in the evening.
In the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, around 900 people and a number of schools had to be evacuated and television footage showed flooded highways, supermarkets and cars floating in the water. A number of schools and kindergartens in the region were closed up to and including Saturday.
The highway and the railroad line between Lyon and Saint-Étienne were interrupted. The state railroad SNCF announced that no trains would be able to run between the two cities for several days. According to the prefecture, it was also unclear when the highway would be open again. The highway operator Vinci Autoroutes warned in the evening of possible obstructions on over 30 French highways.
Hundreds of firefighters in action
According to the Ministry of the Interior, 1500 firefighters were deployed and sirens were blaring in several towns. Everything was being done to help the people affected, said Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau in Paris. The authorities issued an urgent warning against entering flooded areas on foot or by car.
There was also extreme rainfall in Paris; according to meteorologists, more rain fell in one hour than in two weeks. Some metro stations were closed due to flooding.
"We are dealing with a situation that is unprecedented in its scale," said Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister for Ecological Transition. Locally, 60 centimetres of precipitation had fallen within 48 hours, which was "absolutely massive". "This has not happened in living memory." The minister warned: "We are collectively confronted with episodes that are related to climate change and that we will experience more and more regularly, we have to prepare for them." A crisis team has been set up at the ministry. All relevant services have been mobilized, it said.
47 trapped people evacuated from supermarket
Following the flooding of a supermarket in the town of Givors on the Rhone, in which 47 people were still temporarily trapped in the evening, the Carrefour supermarket chain closed more of its stores in Nice, Cannes, Monaco and Antibes as a precautionary measure. According to Carrefour managing director Alexandre Bompard, 39 employees as well as 8 customers and employees of other stores were initially on the upper floor of the flooded supermarket. They were taken out of the building by the fire department in the evening.