WEATHER: The 76-year-old man had left his house in the Lot-et-Garonne to pick up his mail
A septuagenarian, taken Friday to Espiens ( Lot-et-Garonne ) by a stream whose level had risen due to bad weather, was found dead Saturday in a neighbouring town, almost 24 hours after his disappearance, according to the prosecution Agen .
The nautical brigade of the gendarmerie and the local brigade found the submerged body more than one kilometre from his home, the prosecution said, confirming information from the Midi Dispatch. An autopsy was to be conducted to determine the causes of death, he said.
The 76-year-old man had left his house to pick up his mail Friday evening. His wife gave the alert around 7:00 p.m. The searches in the Galaup stream, interrupted at the end of the evening, had resumed on Saturday.
Provisional assessment brought to two dead
In addition to the floods, strong winds raged in many departments, from Normandy to Corsica, killing Friday morning in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques: a man, 70 years old, died after having crashed into his car a fallen tree on the roadway in Ilharre. On the same day, five other people were injured by falling trees on their vehicle in Lot-et-Garonne, Landes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques. The latter department had been placed on the alert for red flooding on Friday.
The southwest has experienced heavy rains in recent days. Eleven departments were placed on orange alert on Saturday by Meteo France. In the Lot-et-Garonne, the rising waters were to continue until Sunday, causing the closure of many flooded roads, including the bank path at Agen, a strategic axis bordering the Garonne.
