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CASE: The floods have brought coffins of the dead from the Saint-Dalmas-de-Tende cemetery, in southeastern France. Photo: FABIEN NOVIAL / AFP
Twelve people have died and 20 are still missing after the great flood in southern France and Italy.
France has declared a natural disaster in the Maritime Alps region, near the border with Italy, after storm Alex left massive destruction.
Twelve deaths have been recorded since the violent storm began on Friday, four on French territory and eight on the Italian side.
Several of those found in Italy are believed to be French swept away by the storm, the Ansa news agency reports, but identification work is difficult. Therefore, investigators are considering using DNA testing, the news agency writes. Facebook groups have also been created to search for missing persons in the area.
SOMEONE’S HOUSE: The damage is huge after the storm. Here in Saint-Martin-Vesubie in the south of France. Photograph: ERIC GAILLARD / X00102
Like in the rivers
The hard work of searching for survivors of the brutal floods became even more tragic after the discovery of lost corpses from cemeteries.
The bodies are said to have been washed up the mountain slopes by heavy rains and turned up on the Italian side of the border, an area spokesman reports to the AP news agency.
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20 people are still missing and a rescue team of around 1,000 firefighters, military and helicopters are working around the clock to find them.
The testimonies from the affected areas are heartbreaking.
– My three-story house is on the river. All I have left is a small piece of wall and a door, Sandra Dzidt (62) tells AFP.
The rescue team has managed to rescue about 500 people in the Alps Maritimes area. 150 are still waiting to be helped to safety, writes BBC.
CRUSHED: The rain in Saint-Martin-Vesubie has almost washed away villages. Photo: VALERY HACHE / AFP
Presidential visit
On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to visit the worst affected areas.
The mayor of the municipality of Tende, Jean-Pierre Vassalo, tells BFMTV that he wants to tell the president about the great frustration among the inhabitants. Vassalo describes having to care for hundreds of people this weekend, people who have no electricity, water to wash, or opportunities to save themselves.
– We had no way to communicate with the outside world. We wondered if we were really still part of France, said the mayor.
The nearby Piedmont region of Italy has not measured such heavy rainfall since 1958, and has now broken all previous records with extreme 630mm of rainfall measured in 24 hours, the BBC writes.
