Places under water, fighting the floods: "Disaster!"

Paris - Heavy rainfall pours over France. Rivers burst their banks and flood towns. Prime Minister Barnier speaks of a "catastrophe". The damage is enormous and the shock is deep-seated.

Entire towns in the water, closed kindergartens, flooded train tracks - heavy rainfall has caused enormous damage in France. "The worst disaster in 40 years", as Prime Minister Michel Barnier said, is probably not over yet: there is a threat of further storms.

The second-highest warning level, orange, has been issued for ten departments in the southern half of the country due to possible flooding and high water.

However, the highest warning level of red no longer applies anywhere. "This is a good thing", said the Minister for Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, to BFMTV. "Last night was less bad than we had expected."

Parts of France were hit by heavy rainfall on Thursday and Friday. Entire towns were completely flooded, cars were washed away and people had to be evacuated.

The community of Givors, located around 35 kilometers upstream, was also hit particularly hard. 47 people were temporarily trapped in a flooded supermarket here before they were rescued by the fire department.

The emergency services evacuated more than 400 people in the town and emergency shelters were set up.

However, this horror scenario was probably prevented in the community. So far, there have only been reports of one death in Paris during the severe storm.

In the north of the capital, a falling tree killed the man. His three and five-year-old children were injured. However, neighbors dragged them out from under the tree, as they told the newspaper "Le Parisien".

The weather service Météo France spoke of the heaviest two-day heavy rainfall event in the Cévennes region since the beginning of the 20th century. "In some places in the Ardèche, up to 700 millimetres of water fell in 48 hours," said Pannier-Runacher. "That's more than the annual rainfall in Paris."

The minister warned: "We are facing periods linked to climate change . We have to get used to them and prepare ourselves to withstand them."

Heavy rainfall has become more frequent and more intense in many places around the world due to climate change. The reason: the warmer it gets, the more moisture the atmosphere can absorb - which leads to higher rainfall. However, other human factors also play a role in flooding.

Prime Minister Barnier also said that, in view of climate change, we must be prepared for ever more frequent risks and disasters.

He expressed his sympathy and support for those affected. "It is a trauma to be affected by floods."