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The floods have claimed the life of a firefighter, while 19 people are missing at the same time
A firefighter died, to say the least 19 more people are missing in France and to Italy Following storm it hit areas on the border between the two countries, causing heavy flooding that destroyed roads and houses, authorities said today.
Hurricane Alex, as it’s called, caused extensive damage to the towns of the city of Nice on the French Riviera. Nice Mayor Christian Estrozi, who flew by helicopter over the affected areas, said it was the worst flood in more than a century.
«Roads and some 100 houses were washed away by the floods or partially destroyed.He told the French news network BFM.
At least eight people are missing in Franceauthorities said. Among them are two firefighters whose vehicle was washed away by an overflowing river, according to local eyewitnesses quoted by various French media.
In Italy, at least one person died and up to 11 more were missing, local officials said.
A firefighter was killed by falling from a tree in the Val d’Aosta area, while three people in a van were swept away by floods in Val Roia, on the border with France.
Six German hikers are among those missing after failing to return from a mountain trip in the province of Cuneo.
Officials in the Piedmont area said 630 millimeters of rain had been recorded in just 24 hours in Sambugeto, near the border with Switzerland. The head of the Piedmont region, Alberto Cirio, asked the government to declare a state of emergency.
Television images filmed in Italy show roads and bridges in the northwestern part of the country being washed away as many rivers are reported to overflow.
Eric Siotti, a member of the French parliament for one of the worst affected villages in the region, Saint-Martin-Vesuvius, said several villages had been excluded because they were located in steep valleys in the mountains.
The French Meteorological Service (Meteo France) announced that 450 mm of rain fell in some areas in the last 24 hours, corresponding to almost four months of rain at this time of year. The rains have been heaviest since October 3, 2015, when floods killed at least 20 people in and around Cannes on the French Riviera, Jeremy Krunshan, director of civil protection, told France Info.
In Venice, a flood-proof fence system, the construction of which had been long delayed, successfully protected the city from floods for the first time today, causing great relief after years of repeated flooding.
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