Man dies as flash flooding causes chaos across France
A man has died in the flash flooding hitting much of the country, after his car overturned in an accident on a flooded road.
According to reports, the 37-year-old lost control of his car on a departmental road near Pisieux (Eure, Normandy), and flipped his car into a deep pool of water.
The death comes as stormy weather has impacted much of the country.
A record 588km of traffic jams were recorded in Ile-de-France this morning, largely due to the heavy rain still falling in the region.
Roads have been flooded and cut off, while in Brittany - and the town of Morlaix especially - rivers burst their banks and caused significant flooding and damage.
Mudslides affected over 40 households in Montreuil-sous-Pérouse, north of Vitré.
Local fire brigades reported over 500 calls for aid between 16h and 18h yesterday (a normal day’s worth of calls in two hours), prompting emergency services to put a crisis centre in place for Ille-et-Vilaine.
People reported cellars, garages, and ground floors of houses and businesses, to be flooded.
The inclement weather is set to continue, with 15 departments on alert for storms this morning (June 5).
The department of Eure especially is on alert for rain and flooding, with 30-50mm of rain having fallen overnight, and more expected in the south-west of the region.
Up to 60mm of rain is expected to hit further south, in the Tarn, Aveyron, Tarn-et-Garonne and the Lot-et-Garonne, as well as strong gusts of wind up to 60-70kph.
Storms will then spread to the Ain, Isère and the Auvergne, with gusts of up to 90kph, before the end of the day.
