French residents rescued from flooded homes by boat as Storm Herminia hits Normandy and Brittany

RENNES, France (AP) — Residents in western France used boats to escape their flooded homes on Monday as rivers and waterways broke their banks after successive storms battered Normandy and Brittany.

The national weather service had issued flood and wind warnings as Storm Herminia hit Spain, France on parts of the UK.

Normandy and Brittany were already waterlogged after the passage of last week’s Storm Éowyn — which left two people dead from fallen trees and more than 1 million people without electricity in Ireland and Britain.

Storm Herminia caused road closures in some areas of France. About 400 people were evacuated from homes in and around the city of Rennes, at the heart of the hardest-hit region. The mayor called it the city’s worst flooding in more than 40 years, and said in a statement that the waters weren’t expected to start receding until Wednesday.

A 73-year-old British sailor was reported missing off the Atlantic coast near Bordeaux over the weekend, according to the regional maritime authority.

France’s weather service issued further flood and wind warnings for Tuesday for all regions on the western coast, from Brittany down to the Spanish border.

RENNES, France (AP) — Residents in western France used boats to escape their flooded homes on Monday as rivers and waterways broke their banks after successive storms battered Normandy and Brittany.

The national weather service had issued flood and wind warnings as Storm Herminia hit Spain, France on parts of the UK.

Normandy and Brittany were already waterlogged after the passage of last week’s Storm Éowyn — which left two people dead from fallen trees and more than 1 million people without electricity in Ireland and Britain.

Storm Herminia caused road closures in some areas of France. About 400 people were evacuated from homes in and around the city of Rennes, at the heart of the hardest-hit region. The mayor called it the city’s worst flooding in more than 40 years, and said in a statement that the waters weren’t expected to start receding until Wednesday.

A 73-year-old British sailor was reported missing off the Atlantic coast near Bordeaux over the weekend, according to the regional maritime authority.

France’s weather service issued further flood and wind warnings for Tuesday for all regions on the western coast, from Brittany down to the Spanish border.