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20 Dead in French Flash Floods

   VOA News 17 June 2010
   View of a flooded street in Draguignan, southern France, 16 Jun 2010

Photo: AP

   View of a flooded street in Draguignan, southern France, 16 Jun 2010

   The  death  toll from flash floods in southern France has risen to 20,
   while  authorities  near the country's Mediterranean coast continue to
   search for bodies.
   After  two  days of flooding, a fresh round of rainfall early Thursday
   brought  waters  to about one-half meter high in France's southern Var
   region.   At  least  25,000  homes  were  without electricity in what
   French  Interior  Minister  Brice  Hortefeux  called an "unprecedented
   catastrophe."
   Rescue  helicopters  on Wednesday plucked hundreds of people off their
   rooftops.
   French  officials  say  the  government  has made more than $1 million
   available  for  emergency  efforts.  French President Nicolas Sarkozy
   announced plans to visit the Var region next week.
   French media say these are France's worst floods in 200 years.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.

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