Posted on 12/03/2003 5:13:17 PM PST by blam
Marseille declared disaster area
Local roads are described as "death traps"
Five people have died as torrential rain and high winds brought serious flooding to south-eastern France. Forecasters warned of further downpours, as the floods blocked roads, disrupted rail services and forced more than 9,000 people to flee their homes.
France's second-biggest city Marseille was declared a disaster area.
After visiting the worst-affected area, French President Jacques Chirac said the victims could count on the solidarity of the rest of the nation.
The French Government announced it was giving 12 million euros ($14m) in initial emergency fund for the region.
As well as disruption to schools, roads and transport, several nuclear reactors were shut down because of vegetation clogging the rivers used to cool them.
Rescue services in Marseille used barges to evacuate 1,000 people from a northern suburb. Firefighters in the city answered 500 emergency calls.
"In the face of this new catastrophe, my thoughts go to the victims and those who have lost everything," President Chirac said in the town of Valabre.
Earlier, Environment Minister Roselyne Bachelot said all public emergency services had been mobilised.
She urged motorists not to use the roads during the heavy rains.
"Roads are death traps whenever there are floods," she said.
Swept away
On Wednesday, authorities confirmed that five people had died.
In pictures: French floods
The announcement followed the discovery of the bodies of a 53-year-old woman who had been swept away on Monday night near Lyon, and of an elderly man in Marseille.
On Tuesday, police and rescuers recovered the bodies of three other victims in the Marseille region.
One man was found trapped in a flooded underground tunnel in the port city and another had fallen into a raging river in nearby Orange.
Flu outbreak
The national weather service, Meteo France, has issued a high-level alert for 12 administrative departments in the region.
The service expects the incessant rains and winds of up to 150 kilometres per hour (90 miles per hour) to continue until Thursday.
Officials are anxiously watching the situation in the Rhone Valley amid fears of further flooding.
The country is also battling a flu outbreak. Officials said two million cases were expected by the end of the week.
Some emergency departments in the Paris area have been filled to overflowing with flu victims, many of them children.
Leni
The country is also battling a flu outbreak.
90mph winds are nothing to sneeze at (sorry).
I bet the Marseillaise will rest a hell of a lot easier now.
Marseillaises.
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