State to declare natural disaster

THE government will declare a catastrophe naturelle today, Prime Minister François Fillon has announced.

The official label will affect insurance claims for flooding in the region which was hit by storms last weekend.

In an interview with France 2 the prime minister said: “We will do all we can to help those who are in great difficulty.

“This is a disaster of great magnitude – I want to congratulate all those on the ground who are doing remarkable work.”

Storm damage is covered seprately by garantie tempêtes in your assurance habitation.

Some 210,000 homes are still without power in the area.

Hundreds of thousands of people have still not been reconnected to landlines and mobiles.

The cost of last weekend’s storms is now estimated at 600 million euros for insurance companies according to the French federation of insurance companies.

Photo:Afp/Partick Bernard