MARSEILLE, France — At least four people have died and one has been injured in flooding unleashed by Storm Adam across southern France, BBC News and Reuters reported.
Two women, aged 86 and 26, were found drowned in a cellar in the Bouches-du-Rhône department around Marseille. On the island of Corsica, a 4×4 was swept away by floodwaters; one occupant escaped through a window, but another man was found dead. Authorities have not released details of the fourth death.
“The water has risen to unprecedented levels,” Jacques Witkowski, the prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône, said, according to BBC News. “We are mobilised at an exceptional level to resolve several issues.”
Dozens of residents of Mouriès and Saint-Martin-de-Crau, between Montpellier and Marseille, were put up in emergency shelters, and road and rail lines in the region were disrupted, Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said.
More bad weather is on the way. Météo-France issued an orange wind warning for five western departments — Côtes-d’Armor, Finistère, Morbihan, Ille-et-Vilaine and Manche — from Thursday evening into Friday as Storm Austen moves in from the Atlantic.
Storm Adam had already caused severe flooding in eastern Spain, where at least three people were killed and helicopters plucked people from rooftops. The Valencian government approved a €23.5 million aid package for those affected.
—
