Eight killed in French floods

Residents wade through a river of water on a flooded street in Orange, southern France

NIMES, France -- At least eight including a child have died in flash floods and violent storms in the south of France.

More than 1,000 residents have also been forced to flee their homes after the Gardon, a tributary to the Rhone River, broke its banks and flooded low lying areas. All road and rail links in the region have been shut down.

Six people drowned, another was killed by lightning and a fireman died after sustaining severe injuries while rescuing two motorists who were trapped in their car by mounting water, but whom he helped to safety. Four other people are missing.

The body of a child was found near Ales, The Associated Press said.

Worst affected are the regions of Gard, Herault and Vaucluse in the south of the country.

About 500 rescue workers were joined by 300 soldiers as authorities declared a state of alert on Monday. Amphibious armoured cars were used to try and gain access to roads cut off by fast flowing waist-high water.

About 250 people were evacuated from their homes by helicopter while a further 900 were forced to flee to temporary shelters set up by the Red Cross and local authorities.

About 40,000 homes are without electricity, officials said.

In Orange, northeast of Nimes, a senior citizens' home was evacuated as the waters rose and schools closed for the day.

Rain continued to fall during Monday and state weather service Meteo France warned of more storms in the south overnight.

"Lots of streams have gone way over their banks and the rain isn't due to stop for a while," a spokesman for the prefecture in the Gard district told Reuters.

The floods are the second in two weeks to have hit France.

Last month about 150 homes were flooded around the northern town of Lille while a "mini-tornado" ripped through parts of the French Riviera, including Nice and Cannes.

The heavy rain in France follows disastrous flooding in Germany, Russia, Austria and the Czech Republic earlier this summer which killed at least 98 people and drove hundreds of thousands from their homes.