French Government to Declare State of Emergency in Northwest Cities
Paris, Dec 24 (Prensa Latina) French local authorities demanded the central government to declare the state of emergency in four cities of the northwest after the storm Dirk hit the country, leaving at least one dead, severe flooding and damage to infrastructure.
The waters flooded many neighborhoods, reaching a height of five feet in some areas, in the cities of Morlaix, Quimper, Quimperlé and Chateaulin in the region of Brittany.
The weather event affected mainly the northwest of the country, where 140 mph winds and six to seven feet high waves were recorded.
A 12 year-old teenager was killed and a construction worker was seriously injured when a wall in a building site collapsed in Saint-Germain-de-Tallevende, Department of Calvados.
Also, a Russian sailor was swept overboard north-west of the port of Brest in Brittany and he is still missing.
The winter storm also downed trees an electrical posts , leaving about 192 thousand homes without power.
Maritime traffic across the English Channel was suspended and many flights at the airports of Brest Bretagne, Rennes Saint-Jacques, Lorient-Bretagne Sud and Lille Lesquin were grounded.
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