Rain floods southern France for third time in six months

Severe floods have hit the French Southwest city of Saintes (Charente-Maritime) for the third time in just six months.

Transcript

00:00 Severe floods have hit southwest France for the third time in just six months.

00:07 Charente-Maritime, Pas-de-la-Calais and Gironde are all on orange alert.

00:12 The level of the Charente River continues to rise,

00:15 with peak flood levels expecting to reach close to 6 metres this Friday.

00:20 Over 200 homes could be flooded.

00:23 Residents oscillate between anguish and weariness.

00:27 "I've never seen a year like this."

00:30 "It's the fourth in two years."

00:33 The region's mayor is seeking solutions.

00:38 "In this street, it's likely that we'll have to buy houses,

00:43 collapse them, so that the water flow can be evacuated more easily.

00:47 Maybe we'll have to build dams upstream.

00:50 Obviously, we'll have to build water dams.

00:52 We'll try to find efficient water dam systems."

00:54 Some neighbours have been forced to move.

00:59 Others arm themselves with patience

01:01 and look for their own temporary solutions to minimise damage.

01:06 "It's a good attempt."

01:08 [WHOOSH]