Fears for man in flood river

ORANGE ALERT CONTINUES IN THE VAR AFTER ANOTHER NIGHT OF HEAVY RAIN, STORMY WINDS AND HIGH TIDES RESIDENTS in the Var have been warned to take extreme precautions as continuing rain and high

winds have seen the orange weather alert maintained for the third day. Rescuers are also searching for a man who was washed away by floodwaters in the river Var, to the north-west of Nice

in Alpes-Maritimes, when his digger toppled off a bank this morning. One other man was saved in the incident at Castagniers. The situation is due to improve during today but Météo France

warned that once the rain stopped there was still a danger from the fierce winds - gusting up to 150kph - and high tide. High waves have severely affected the coast of the Cote d'Azur

with the coastal road between Cagnes-sur-Mer and Antibes being shut and part of the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. More than a month's worth of rain has fallen on the Var in less than

24 hours leading to major flooding across the department with families were evacuated during the night from several communes. The area round the Argens river was put under surveillance

because of the risk of new floods. So far rescue services have been involved in 3,029 actions, 120 helicopter rescues and evacuated 1,775 people. More than a dozen roads in the Var are still

closed - newspaper Var-Matin has a regularly updated list here. Nearly 350 homes have no power and water is being distributed in several communes. Several schools are closed with no school

transport in Cogolin, La Môle, Gassin, Saint-Tropez, Grimaud and Sainte-Maxime.