Flash flooding around the French Riviera has killed at least 16 people, some drowned in a retirement home and others trapped in cars and campsites.
Torrents of muddy water inundated buildings, roads and railway tracks, disrupting movement along the Mediterranean coast today.
Residents of the picturesque and touristy region, stunned by the ferocity of the brief downpour yesterday night, described it as the worst flooding they'd ever seen.
It was so dramatic that it prompted President Francois Hollande to pay an emergency visit today to promise government aid for victims.
Helicopters patrolled the area and 27,000 homes were without electricity today after rivers and streams overflowed their banks and fierce thunderstorms poured more than 17 centimetres of rain on the Cannes region in two hours last night. That is the equivalent of two months of rainfall for the region, local radio France Bleu-Azur reported.
Hollande said the overall death toll by midday today was 16, with three still missing. Government officials had given conflicting reports about casualty figures earlier in the day.
"It's not over," Hollande said, visiting the flood- stricken retirement home in the town of Biot and meeting with emergency workers.
He expressed condolences to families of victims and urged residents to remain cautious, especially on the region's roads, many of which remained impassable today. He promised aid for residents hit by the flooding and lamented serious damage to local stores and other businesses.
Some residents criticised authorities for not doing more to prevent flood damage in the region. Local firefighters and meteorologists said the amount of rain was unusual for the region this time of year, but were especially shocked by the intensity and speed of yesterday's storm.
People were found dead in the towns of Cannes, Biot, Golfe-Juan and Mandelieu-la-Napoule in the southeast, the president's office said.
Three elderly people were killed in the retirement home, Hollande said. Three others were found dead in their car after entering a flooded tunnel, authorities in Golfe-Juan said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said the dead included victims who had been trapped in a parking lot and campsites as well.
Winds and rain whipped palm trees along the famed Croisette seaside promenade in Cannes in images shown on BFM television. Some cars parked near Cannes shore were swept away and overturned by high waves.
