ISTANBUL
One person went missing in western France while four departments remained on red alert over the risk of flooding as severe weather swept across the country on Wednesday.
The 53-year-old man was reported missing Tuesday night in Maine-et-Loire after a small boat capsized, according to broadcaster BFMTV.
"We are deploying the necessary resources, but objectively, there is very little chance of finding this person,” the department’s prefect said.
France’s weather service, Meteo-France, has placed four departments on red alert, including Charente-Maritime, Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne, and Maine-et-Loire.
"It is an episode of exceptional magnitude in terms of its intensity. We have been under flood alert for 33 days," Mathieu Lefevre, minister delegate in charge of Ecological Transition, told BFMTV during a visit to the commune of Saintes in Charente-Maritime.
He added that 20,000 people in France were still without electricity early Friday.
In Saintes, at least 2,000 homes were reportedly flooded.
Meteo-France described the situation as “unprecedented” as France marked its 36th consecutive day of rainfall somewhere in the country.