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Italian firefighters have rescued 25 people trapped on the French side of a high mountain pass by severe flooding that killed two people in Italy.
Fifteen people were trapped in a train station overnight and eight more remained missing in France.
A storm that moved overnight through southeastern France into northwestern Italy caused major flooding on both sides of the border, destroying bridges, blocking roads and isolating communities.
In Italy, a firefighter died during a rescue operation in the mountainous region of northern Val d’Aosta.
A search team found a body in the Vercelli province of the Piedmont region, where a man had been washed away by floods on Friday night.
Italian firefighters used a helicopter to transport 17 people to safety from the French city of Vievola, including a woman with two grandchildren.
An excavator brought eight other people who managed to climb the Col de Tende, a high mountain pass that links France and Italy, to a tunnel.
Fifteen more people were taking refuge at the Vievola train station after the operation to rescue them was postponed until dawn.
Italian fire brigade spokesman Luca Cari said they were searching for a missing shepherd who was washed away in the floodwaters in Col de Tende.
His brother managed to grab onto a tree and was saved, while the authorities searched the French side for the shepherd.
The situation in the tunnel in the high mountain pass was complicated by the fact that French emergency services cannot access its side due to the damage caused by the floods, Cari said.
Incessant rains overnight reached levels not seen since 1958 in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, where up to 630 millimeters (24.8 inches) of rain fell in a 24-hour period, according to the civil protection agency. Italian.
Hundreds of rescue operations were carried out.
The Tanaro River flood in Ormea, near Cuneo, exceeds the 1994 and 2016 flood values before falling below hazard levels. Photograph: Raffaele Sasso / EPA
Eleven campers were saved in Vercelli province, where flooding reached 20-year highs.
And the alpine rescue squads have evacuated on foot seven people who were in houses isolated by the floods in Terme di Valdieri; some had to be transported on stretchers due to mud and accumulation of debris.
Across the border, in southeastern France, almost a year’s average rainfall fell in less than 12 hours in the mountainous area surrounding the city of Nice.
Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said more than 100 houses were destroyed or severely damaged in the area.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex, who flew over the area by helicopter, confirmed that at least eight people were missing in France, including two firefighters whose vehicle was washed away when a road collapsed.
“I cannot hide our grave concern about the final toll,” Castex said.
Many concerned families had not heard from their relatives because mobile phone services were cut off in the area.
“As I speak, the priority is finding victims, providing supplies and accommodation to affected people and reestablishing communications,” said the prime minister.
The rescue efforts included 871 people working on the ground, as well as military helicopters and troops that assisted with emergency assistance, Castex said.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday expressed his gratitude to the rescuers on Twitter.
“Together we will get through this,” he said.
France’s national meteorological agency, Meteo France, said up to 500 millimeters of rain (19.7 inches) was recorded in some areas, the equivalent of nearly a year of average rainfall.
Meteo France issued a danger alert on Friday and all schools in the region had been closed. Local authorities urged people to stay home.
In central Switzerland, flooding along the Reuss River caused the closure of a section of the A2 motorway, a major trans-Alpine route.
Further east, 13 residents were evacuated from their homes in the city of Diesbach due to the flooding. – AP
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