Fierce winds leave one dead, thousands without power in France

BORDEAUX: One person has died in southern France and thousands of homes were left without power on Friday after strong winds swept across Atlantic coastal regions, gusting at times to 140 km/h (85 mph), officials said. Rescue services said a 70-year-old man died in the Basque Country near Ilharre when his vehicle struck a tree that had fallen into the road during the storms. Five others were injured, two seriously, when trees fell on their vehicles.

Grid operator Enedis said about 400,000 homes were left without electricity overnight, and 170,000 were still without service by Friday afternoon. The high winds ripped off part of the roof of a school in the Pyrenees village of Saint-Beat, though no injuries were reported. Traffic was snarled as trees and other debris were strewn across roads in 14 departments which had been placed on alert for high winds and flooding on Thursday.