One dead, many households off electricity as thunderstorms hit southern France

PARIS, Aug 18 — One person died and nine were injured as severe thunderstorms hit the French island of Corsica today, while some 1,000 households were off electricity in the southern Loire and Ain departments, as storms hit France after a long drought period.

Corsica became the centre of a regional low-pressure area marked by intense storms, hail, and intense rain.

The person who died was on a camping ground on the Mediterranean island, where storms were raging at over 220 km per hour, a spokesman of the prefecture said.

Last evening in Marseille, streets were flooded and streams of water ran down the port city’s stairways, videos shared on social media showed. — Reuters