French Riviera floods: at least 17 killed after violent storms

At least 17 people have died, including one Briton, in floods on the French Riviera over the weekend. Four people are still missing after the violent storms and flash flooding, which started on Saturday night and hit Cannes and elsewhere.

The Daily Telegraph says the storms have "wreaked havoc" on glitzy towns including Cannes, Antibes and Nice. Three people died at a retirement home near Antibes on Saturday when a river burst its banks.

Another three died when their car was trapped by rising waters in a tunnel, and seven died in a single apartment building, trying to get their cars out of a flooded carpark.

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The Daily Mail says rivers of water "gushed through some of the world's wealthiest streets" carrying cars along for hundreds of metres and destroying homes and businesses.

Hundreds of emergency workers were involved in search and rescue operations, some of which are ongoing. A clear-up operation is now underway and rail operator SNCF is struggling to get its services back to normal.

French president Francois Hollande and his interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, travelled to the area yesterday to offer their condolences. Cazeneuve said that nine people had been arrested in Cannes for looting during the floods.

According to the BBC, thousands of homes are still without electricity. The Foreign Office has confirmed that at least one British national is among the dead.

Henri Leroy, mayor of Mandelieu-la-Napoule, one of the affected towns, said: "It's apocalyptic. There are thousands of vehicles. There could be more bodies."

Forecasters have been criticised for not anticipating the crisis. They later said the flash floods had been caused by more rain than expected falling in a very short period of time in heavily built-up areas.