Tourist dies and several injured as Storm Benjamin batters France

A tourist has died and several other people injured as Storm Benjamin brought torrential rain, strong winds and flash flooding across France yesterday (October 23). 

The German man, 45, was swimming with his family in a river in Corsica when he was swept away as the storm passed over the island. 

His wife and children (9 and 13) were quickly found and rescued from the river, however it took several hours for rescuers to find the man. He was pronounced dead when located later in the afternoon. 

Elsewhere in France, other hospitalisations occurred – including of an on-duty firefighter – and three people were lightly injured due to the storm.

The female firefighter was badly injured after slipping on a ladder at a callout in Pessac, Gironde, where an uprooted tree had collapsed onto a house, said Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez. However, she is not in a critical condition. 

In Le Havre (Seine-Maritime), three people were injured after falling from a roof they were working on. Two people slipped from the roof, at a height of about six metres, and the person holding the ladder was also injured. One of the people who fell from the roof, a 78-year old man, is in critical condition.

A 20-year old man was injured on a building site in Hérault, electrocuted after he lost his balance on scaffolding and touched a high-voltage line. A bus driver in Bordeaux was hurt when a tree fell onto his vehicle. Both were hospitalised but are not reported to be in a life-threatening condition.

A fallen tree branch in Charente injured a 26-year old at a holiday camp, who was taken to Angoulême hospital, and in neighbouring Charente-Maritime, three people were injured after a tree fell onto their vehicle, but they were not hospitalised.

All heightened weather alerts have been lifted, although a few less severe tier-two warnings are in place from state forecaster Météo France. 

Record winds, power outages 

At the peak of the storm, around 140,000 homes lost power. By the end of the evening this had dropped to 38,000. Authorities have yet to give a figure for how many are still without electricity this morning. 

Several train lines, particularly in Normandy and western regions, were cancelled due to the storm yesterday, but normal service should be resumed. It is still recommended to check your travel plans in advance, however. 

Across France, trees were uprooted due to the storm with many falling on railway lines. 

Elsewhere, heavy rains led to dramatic scenes for drivers, particularly in the north and west. 

Wind records were broken in several areas, including the Normandy and Alpes-Maritimes department. 

In the former, coastal winds of up to 161 km/h battered the area around Fécamp. 

In Nice, suburbs including Rimiez (118 km/h, beating the previous 112 km/h record) saw strong winds, as did neighbouring communes in the Alpes-Maritimes including a 145 km/h gale in Saint-Cézaire-sur-Siagne. 

Heavy rains led to flooding in parts of Normandy on Wednesday night, as the storm first passed over the region, leading to fears conditions would worsen on Thursday. However, damage was minimal, and local mayors said conditions were no different from typical storms for the season.