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FRANCE-WEATHER-FLOOD
Death toll in French flooding hits 14
CARCASSONNE, France, Oct 17, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – At least 14 people died and
one remained missing after the storms and floods that battered southwest
France earlier this week, local authorities said Wednesday, updating the
toll.
The equivalent of three months rainfall was dumped overnight Sunday to
Monday in the region of the fortress city of Carcassonne, bursting the banks
of rivers, including the Aude, which reached levels not seen in 100 years.
The worst flooding took place in the medieval town of Trebes, where six
people were killed by flash floods which overturned cars, gutted streets and
swamped hundreds of homes, officials said.
Trebes had already made headlines in March when a jihadist went on the
rampage, killing four people during a shooting spree and hostage-taking at a
supermarket.
Five people were arrested after attempting to steal from a food truck
abandoned near the town, authorities also said.
Water levels have since started falling along the Aude river and its
tributaries, according to Vigicrues, the government agency responsible for
monitoring flooding.
Some 700 firemen and civil defence personnel are involved in clean-up
operations, and extra police and army personnel have been drafted to the
area.
The storms were triggered when a front of warm and humid air from the
Mediterranean Sea slammed into colder air around the Massif Central mountain
range.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1919 hrs