Southeastern France hit by severe floods

Residents of a southeastern French town said they remained in solidarity to face flooding that left a trail of damaged roads, cars and businesses and left many stuck in their homes.

Massive floods caused serious damage and power outages in parts of France's mountainous southeast region after days of heavy rain, though there were no immediate reports of any casualties.

Elsewhere in the town, excavators were scraping off mud washed by floodwaters into roads.

France's weather authority Meteo France placed six departments south of the city of Lyon on a red flood alert. The alert was downgraded to 'orange', indicating that water levels would come down again.

The French interior ministry said Paris had dispatched 1,500 additional firefighters to the affected areas.

France's prime minister said that firefighters and other rescuers have been involved in about 2,300 operations, some of them lifesaving, in what appears to be the biggest flooding in 40 years in central France.

Michel Barnier visited French authorities' crisis center in Paris and said there hadn't been such violent rain in many people's memory. Over 1,000 people were evacuated. Most of them were able to go home.

French weather agency Meteo France said as much as 700 millimeters of rain fell in 48 hours in some local areas in the regions of Ardeche and Lozere.

The massive floods caused serious damage and power outages in parts of France's mountainous southeast region. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Several French news stations showed cars, cattle and traffic signs being swept away by the floods. The A47, a main highway near Lyon, was temporarily transformed into a giant stream of water and remained closed.

Earlier in September, central Europe was battered by the worst floods in that area in at least two decades.