Central and southern France was recovering on Friday from flooding that lashed the areas on Thursday, after heavy rainfall and swollen rivers unleashed torrents of brackish water that cut off roads, swept away cars and swamped buildings.
The French authorities have not linked any deaths or injuries directly to the floods, which were slowly receding on Friday as towns mopped mud and water out of homes, hauled away overturned cars and cleared out tangles of tree branches and debris. But the sudden downpours — the worst in more than four decades in some areas — caught the country by surprise.
Firefighters wade through floodwaters on Thursday in Givors, a town in the Rhône department. More than 3,000 firefighters have been deployed to help, the government said on Friday.
Some of the heaviest downpours were in the Ardèche department, which was battered by more than two feet of rain in 48 hours. Flash flooding swamped several towns, including Saint-Marcel-lès-Annonay, southwest of Lyon, where raging waters lifted a car away.
Rushing floodwaters also trapped vehicles in Labégude, another town in the Ardèche area, where Thursday’s rainfall “was the most intense ever recorded over two days since the beginning of the 20th century,” according to the national weather forecaster.
In Annonay, the largest town in the Ardèche, witnesses told local media that a “mini tsunami” surged through the town within minutes. Schools were evacuated and remained closed on Friday.