Three killed after floods ravage French Riviera region

At least three people have died in floods caused by heavy rainfall and storms which have battered southern France since Monday.

The bodies of an elderly couple were found in the seaside resort town of Le Lavandou, while another person died after becoming trapped in a car in Vidauban, local authorities reported on Tuesday.

The rains have caused widespread damage across the region, flooding streets and causing power and water outages. At least two regional trains stopped their journeys overnight after railway tracks were damaged.

The couple who died had tried to leave their home but were swept away, “surprised by the very rapid rise in water levels”, the Toulon public prosecutor said.

An investigation has been opened into their deaths.

“We are in shock at the scale of the natural disaster that struck the Cavalière district this morning,” officials in Le Lavandou said. They said the town centre had been inundated by 256mm of rain in just an hour.

The town, about 30km (18 miles) east of St Tropez, is a holidaying destination along the French Riviera.

“It was a truly violent, nasty, incomprehensible phenomenon,” said local mayor Gil Bernardi, describing “roads torn up” and “bridges broken apart”.

Le Lavandou was still suffering electricity and water outages on Tuesday and access had also been restricted as the town’s main road remained flooded.

Meanwhile, officials further north in Vidauban said one person had died after the car they were in drove onto a flooded road and fell into a ditch.

A passer-by tried to save both occupants – the driver and the passenger – but was only able to rescue the driver, Vidauban’s town mayor Claude Pianetti said.

More than 500 calls have been made to emergency services in the Var region over the past day, authorities said. Several hundred emergency rescuers have also been deployed to the region, including from nearby cities like Cannes.

Var was placed on further emergency warnings for thunderstorms and flooding on Tuesday morning, but these were later downgraded to the lowest level.

More than 600 homes remain without electricity, local authorities said earlier.

Heavy rains and hailstorms had struck south-west France on Monday night. The Bordeaux-Toulouse railway line has been affected with some trains on the route cancelled for the next few days.