One death, trains disrupted and power cuts as storms batter France
Man dies after trying to reset electricity after power outage
The storms are expected to continue this evening
Marc Rossmann / Shutterstock
At least one person has died as storms sweep across France from the south-west to the north east.
The 78-year old, who has not been named, was killed at around 22:30 last night, after attempting to reset the electricity in his home in Isère, eastern France..
His home had suffered a power cut due to the violent storms in the area.
Read more: Weather in France August 12 – August 16: Forecast by area this week
According to the mayor of Pressins, where the man lived, his basement was flooded with around 10 cm of water when he went to reset the power.
The man, who according to local media reports was formerly an electrician, ignored the water damage and reset the power, electrocuting himself whilst standing in the water. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
At the time, the Isère department was on a heightened orange alert for storms, and saw repeated lightning strikes throughout the evening.
Residents in Isère made 900 calls to firefighters throughout the night, leading to 200 callouts, with a number of homes also flooded in the area, both in basements and at ground-floor level.
Thousands of homes suffer power outage, rail routes blocked
Elsewhere in the Alpine area, 160,000 homes in the Savoie department temporarily lost power due to the storms.
Around 1,400 are still without power this afternoon, but EDF says all homes should be reconnected to the grid soon.
The rail route between Lyon and Grenoble was temporarily disabled on both Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, with passengers either travelling via road or a diverted route through Chambéry.
TGVs travelling south from Lyon were also delayed as they needed to be rerouted. However, trains should be running to usual schedules now.
Dozens of roads in the east of France were temporarily closed by the weather conditions, including the RD1075 in Isère, where three cars were involved in an accident caused by a fallen electricity pole. There were no fatalities.
Damage has been recorded across France from the storms, including the roof of a château in Gers, which was struck by lightning.
The roof of the Château Jouanin was partially salvaged, but it required 28 firefighters to put out the blaze.
Read more: Storms in France: what to do if at home, out walking or in car
