Two Dead, Dozens of Thousands of Buildings Without Power Due to Storm in France - Reports

Flooding and landslides disrupted access to the Gourette and Artoustein ski resorts in southwestern France, with the commune of Laruns running out of drinkable water due to problems with its supply.

On Saturday, strong winds and flooding in the southwestern provinces of France caused the death of two retirees and power outages in dozens of thousands of houses, with 11 departments declaring an orange alert, the AFP reported.

#France #PyrénéesAtlantiques: flooding in #Bayonne https://t.co/wxVC7ZR4zs

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Two men, aged 70 and 76, died in the Pyrenees-Atlantique in the Basque Country and in the Lot-et-Garonne region respectively, as a result of the severe weather. One of them was found in a car which had hit a fallen tree and the other was swept away by the rising waters.

Five more people were injured by trees falling on their vehicles.

Some 40,000 homes lacked power on Saturday afternoon, the AFP said, citing electricity utility operator Enedis.

According to the company's representative, 2,000 technicians were sent to cope with the problem.

Overnight, 400,000 homes had sustained power shortages due to floods, with waters rising to 2.7 metres (nine feet).