France floods: 1,600 people evacuated from Gard campsites

Swollen Ceze and L'Ardeche rivers break their banks following torrential rain

Rescuers backed by helicopters have evacuated around 1,600 people from campsites after torrential rain triggered flash flooding in southern France.

One person was reported missing after the swollen Ceze and L'Ardeche rivers broke their banks in the northern part of the Gard region.

Nearby areas — all part of the verdant and mountainous Cevennes — were also hit with flooding.

A top regional official told French news channel BFM TV people evacuated came from five campsites.

The missing man, a 70-year-old German citizen, was a monitor at one of the campsites who was feared to have been swept away by flood waters along with his van, local media reported. A search for him was underway.

Thierry Dousset, the top aide in the Gard administration, said no one knew for certain whether the man was in his van when it was apparently swept away.

The Gard administration said four German children were sent to hospital in Bagnols-sur-Ceze, a town on the Ceze River, for hypothermia. They were among 10 people hospitalised with minor injuries, the Gard gendarmerie said on its Facebook page.

The mayor of Bagnols, Jean-Yves Chapelet, said many Dutch tourists were among the 350 campers evacuated in the town.

Authorities said 119 children in nearby Saint-Julien-de-Peyrolas were sent to an emergency shelter.

Hundreds of firefighters, many sent in from other regions, helped in the evacuations, using helicopters to spot camp sites and occasionally to perform rescues.

Numerous roads in the area remained cut off as night fell.

Additional reporting by AP