Storm Amélie, the first of the autumn, swept the Atlantic
coast in France on Sunday, with wind gusts of more than 160 km/h, roads cut off
by fallen trees and 140,000 homes without electricity.
Also in the southwest the storm caused heavy downpours.
Firefighters were searching Nice on Sunday for a missing woman after a dirt
slide near her home.
The orange alert in effect in the departments of the
southwest, center and southeast was lifted throughout the day.
On the Atlantic coast, rescue services and prefectures
reported three minor injuries - one of them was hospitalized - victims mostly
of the fall of tree branches.
According to the Météo France meteorological agency, wind
gusts of 163 km/h were recorded on the coast of Cap Ferret (southwest), 148
km/h in Massanges (west), 146 km/h in Belle-Ile (west). The wind also blew hard
inland, at 121 km/h in the city of Bordeaux.
At noon, some 140,000 homes ran out of electricity in the
southwest, the Enedis electricity distribution network told the AFP.
In the Landes department, 47 people had to be evacuated
from a campsite. In the resort town of Mimizan, the roof of a casino collapsed.
Several secondary roads were cut or clogged by trees that
fell onto the track. Likewise numerous trains were cancelled or delayed.
In the southeast, heavy rains were swemmed in The early
hours of Sunday in cities located about twenty km from Marseille and in the
Nice region.
Thirty motorists had to be rescued when they were trapped
in their vehicles by the deluge. Basements in several shops and houses were
flooded.
SOURCE: Panorama
