Seven more bodies take death toll from storms to nine
ROME: Seven bodies were found in a region straddling the FrenchItalian border near Nice yesterday after torrential rains swept houses and roads away, officials said.
Five were found in northwestern Italy, including four washed up on the shore between the towns of Ventimiglia and Santo Stefano al Mare. Some of them might have been swept down the coast from France.
Two more were found in France, one of them in a vehicle that had been swept away by flash flooding in the village of SaintMartinVesubie.
It brings to nine the number of people found dead after fierce rains and howling gales lashed the border area on Saturday.
French firefighters said another 21 people were missing, eight of them known to be as a direct result of the storm.
The bad weather caused millions of euros worth of damage, with several road bridges swept away in Italy.
The Piedmont region reported a record 630mm of rain in just 24 hours in Sambughetto, near Switzerland. In Limone Piemonte, a threestorey house was swept into a river and in nearby Tanaro, floodwaters destroyed the cemetery, sweeping away dozens of coffins.
In France, almost 1000 firefighters were drafted into the AlpesMaritimes region to look for the missing and reestablish communications. Up to 500mm of rain fell in less than 10 hours, a volume not seen since records began, Prime Minister Jean Castex said. — Reuters