Homes have been destroyed by the floods of the Vesubie river in Roquebilliere, southeastern France
Credit: NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP via Getty Images
More than 1,000 firefighters and soldiers searched for survivors on Sunday after floods devastated mountain villages north of the French Riviera city of Nice, killing at least two people in neighbouring Italy.
At least 25 others were reported missing, including two French firemen, amid fears that the death toll will rise. Families were unable to contact relatives in many villages because mobile phone and landline services were down and about 10,500 homes were left without electricity.
Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice, said the area’s “worst floods in more than a century” washed away houses and destroyed roads and bridges around the city.
The equivalent of nearly a year’s average rainfall fell in less than 12 hours when a storm hit border areas of France and Italy on Saturday.
An Italian fireman was killed during a rescue operation the mountainous northern region of Val d’Aosta. A man was also swept away by floodwaters in the Piedmont region’s Vercilli province, where a body was found.
People clean their shop's items following a mudslide in Garessio, Piedmont
Credit: VINCENZO PINTO/AFP via Getty Images
The two French firefighters went missing after their vehicle was carried away by a torrent when a road collapsed south of the village of Saint-Martin-Vésubie.
The search focussed on the Roya Valley, which straddles the border between France and Italy. Rescuers carried emergency supplies of food and water to residents of isolated villages cut off by the floods.
Italian firefighters rescued 25 people trapped on the French side of a high mountain pass. Six German hikers were among the missing after failing to return from a mountain trip in Cuneo province.
Jean Castex, the French prime minister, who flew over the worst-hit area by helicopter, said: “I have been particularly shocked by what I have seen.” He said the number of dead was likely to rise.
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