Deluge in France, hundreds evacuated

TOULOUSE, NOV 14: Hundreds of people were evacuated from threatened villages in southwest France on Saturday after heavy floods and mudsl...

TOULOUSE, NOV 14: Hundreds of people were evacuated from threatened villages in southwest France on Saturday after heavy floods and mudslides left 19 dead and nine missing, officials said.

A mother and her three children died when their house was buried under a mudslide in the town of Labastide-Rouairoux, in the Tarn department. A homeless man also died in Tarn. With rain still falling, worst hit was Aude region, where the death toll was 12 on Saturday. Among the dead were two people from the village of Estagel, near the southern city of Perpignan, which was buried in two metres of mud.

A merchant navy officer fell off a German boat off the coast near Narbonne. Local authorities said six other people were reported missing in the area after witnesses saw cars falling into overflowing rivers and being swept away. Two people were killed in the eastern Pyrenees region. Hundreds of people were evacuated from homes wrecked by a deluge of mud and water and most of those rescued were from the villages of Siran,Olonza, Capestang, Agel and Feline Minervois in department of Aude.

Emergency services in the region were called to help elderly people take refuge in the upper levels of their houses. Six helicopters helped 700 rescuers on the ground, with police officers also helping to search for trapped residents. Divers also had to help about 10 people trapped in their cars. Piles of stones, fallen branches and mud filled the streets of Carcassonne in the Aude region, after storms brought the worst flooding in the areas in 60 years, according to local officials.

Shovel in hand, one Carcassonne resident tried to clean up the piles of mud in his living room and garage. 8220;The water has to go somewhere and it came into my house,8221; he said. Only church steeples and house roofs poked out of the flooded valley. Many roads were partially blocked or totally impassable.

A dam gave way in the area early Saturday near La Bourgade. Officials said its collapse was not an immediate threat to residents, but warned it could latercause a massive water surge. Regional authorities said it was impossible to assess the damage to the dam as several others had serious cracks and needed to be checked immediately.

Rail traffic was also interrupted during the night. President Jacques Chirac, flew into Carcassonne on Saturday, and spent an hour talking to emergency services coordinators. 8220;I have come to show the nation8217;s solidarity,8221; he said.