Flash floods tore through towns in southwest France, turning waterways into raging torrents that killed at least 13 people, nine of them in just one town, authorities said Monday. People had to be helicoptered to safety from the roofs of their homes as overnight storms dumped the equivalent of several months of rain in just a few hours.

Worst hit was the town of Trebes, east of the medieval walled city of Carcassonne. The rains that swept in from the Mediterranean killed nine people there, Interior Ministry spokesman Frederic de Lanouvelle said. He told BFMTV that the floods in the Aude region also killed four other people in other locations, left one person missing and seriously injured five others.

In the town of Villegailhenc, witness Ines Siguet said the waters rose so quickly that people were stranded on the roofs of their homes and had to be helicoptered to safety. (AP)

See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Twitter and Tumblr.</s>French government official says that floods have killed 5 people in southwest France

PARIS (AP) — French government official says that floods have killed 5 people in southwest France.</s>Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Several months' of rain hit France's southern Aude region, causing multiple fatalities

At least 10 people have been killed by flash floods in the Aude region of southern France.

Local authorities say several months' worth of rain fell in just a few hours overnight, leaving roads blocked in some areas.

A nun was swept away by the River Aude, local broadcaster BFMTV reports.

Separately, a policewoman attending to a weather-related traffic accident in the town of Albi was hit and killed by a motorist.

The death toll has been revised down from 13, France's interior ministry explained, because of an error which meant some of the dead had been counted twice.

Alain Thirion, the prefect of Aude, said people were stranded on rooftops and would have to be evacuated by air because it was too dangerous by boat.

One person was injured, he added, when a house collapsed in the locality of Cuxac.

The floods are the worst the Aude river has seen in more than 100 years, according to the weather monitoring service Vigicrues.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Hundreds of emergency service workers are taking part in rescue efforts

Seven helicopters and 700 emergency service workers have been deployed, according to France's Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, who has also visited the area.

An angry resident of Villegailhenc told the prime minister there had been a lack of public information, including from the media, when flooding hit in the early hours.

People on social media have also been sharing photos showing the extent of the damage to homes and streets in the area.

The BBC's Chris Bockman says heavy rain in the region is not uncommon at this time of year, but it has been exacerbated by growing numbers of homes being built on flood plains.

Residents of the worst-hit areas have been urged to stay inside their homes by emergency services and local authorities, who have issued a red alert.

In Trèbes, floodwater is as high as seven metres (23ft), local authorities say. Footage from the early hours of Monday shows the rising waters.

All roads are inaccessible to the north of Carcassonne municipality and schools are shut, authorities say.

A bridge was torn down and carried away by the force of the water in Villegailhenc.

An amber warning for flooding has also been issued for the nearby regions of Aveyron, Haute-Garonne, Hérault, Pyrénées-Orientales and Tarn.

The region is popular with tourists, many of whom are drawn to the medieval hilltop city of Carcassonne.</s>PARIS (AP) - French officials say flash floods that swept through the southwest Aude region largely claimed elderly victims, who were seemingly caught off guard by the sudden torrents.

The Aude regional government and the Interior Ministry in Paris said Tuesday that the death toll from the flooding overnight Sunday to Monday had risen to 13 and that three people were still listed as missing.

The region's top local official, Alain Thirion, said on BFMTV that flood victims were mainly older people who were "surprised by the amount of rain."

Thirion said that in Trebes, the town with the most deaths, the Aude River quickly swelled from about knee-height to a destructive flood that ended up being over 6.5 meters (21 feet) deep.

An helicopter flies over the town of Villegailhenc, southern France, after flash floods Monday, Oct.15, 2018. Flash floods tore through towns in southwest France, turning streams into raging torrents that authorities said killed several people and seriously injured at least five others. (AP Photo/Fred Lancelot)

French soldiers patrol after flash floods in the town of Villegailhenc, southern France, Monday, Oct.15, 2018. Flash floods tore through towns in southwest France, turning streams into raging torrents that authorities said killed several people and seriously injured at least five others. (AP Photo/Fred Lancelot)</s>VILLEGAILHENC, France (Reuters) - At least 12 people died in southwestern France on Monday when some of the worst flash floods in a century turned rivers into raging torrents that engulfed homes and swept away cars.

Up to seven months’ rain fell in just a few hours overnight, local officials said, catching sleeping residents by surprise and isolating villages.

Several deaths were in the town of Trebes, which sits between a canal and two rivers, including the Aude.

As the death toll rose and the extent of the damage became clear, President Emmanuel Macron decided to hold off on an already-delayed reshuffle of his cabinet.

“It’s like a war zone. The village is more or less cut off from the outside world,” said Jean-Jacques Garros, a resident of Villegailhenc, one of the hardest hit areas.

The Interior Ministry initially put the number of deaths at 13 before revising the toll downwards.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe flew to the disaster zone to meet with emergency service personnel. Some 350 firefighters were involved in rescue operations, a number which will double as more are drafted in to deal with the aftermath.

Television pictures showed churning, muddy rivers that had uprooted trees, knocked over concrete power pylons and tore up roads in the southern region of Aude, near the medieval hilltop city of Carcassonne.

Nine helicopters were scrambled to rescue people from the roofs of their homes as rough weather complicated operations earlier in the day. Thousands of people have been evacuated from the area.

Among the worst hit were the villages of Conques-sur-Orbiel, Villegailhenc and Villardonnel, where the water rose as high as the first-floor windows of some houses. The Aude region is a popular tourist destination with old towns and villages in its hilly peaks and land stretching down to the Mediterranean.

The flash floods struck without warning. At least one victim was carried away by raging waters while sleeping, according to Alain Thirion, the prefect of Aude.

Schools were shut and residents told to stay at home.

The Vigicrues agency, which tracks water levels in France, said the flooding was nearing a peak last seen in 1891.

Torrential downpours are not uncommon in France at this time of year, but meteorologists have said that exceptionally warm sea water along the Mediterranean coast may have intensified the rains.

The year so far is France’s warmest since 1900, according to the state meteorological service.</s>PARIS (AP) - French officials say flash floods that swept through the southwest Aude region largely claimed elderly victims, who were seemingly caught off guard by the sudden torrents.

The Aude regional government and the Interior Ministry in Paris said Tuesday that the death toll from the flooding overnight Sunday to Monday had risen to 13 and that three people were still listed as missing.

The region's top local official, Alain Thirion, said on BFMTV that flood victims were mainly older people who were "surprised by the amount of rain."

Thirion said that in Trebes, the town with the most deaths, the Aude River quickly swelled from about knee-height to a destructive flood that ended up being over 6.5 meters (21 feet) deep.

An helicopter flies over the town of Villegailhenc, southern France, after flash floods Monday, Oct.15, 2018. Flash floods tore through towns in southwest France, turning streams into raging torrents that authorities said killed several people and seriously injured at least five others. (AP Photo/Fred Lancelot)

French soldiers patrol after flash floods in the town of Villegailhenc, southern France, Monday, Oct.15, 2018. Flash floods tore through towns in southwest France, turning streams into raging torrents that authorities said killed several people and seriously injured at least five others. (AP Photo/Fred Lancelot)</s>Paris — At least three people are still missing after some of the worst flash floods in a century devastated towns and villages in France's southwestern Aude region, authorities say.

The government said it was spending millions of euros to revamp technology at the state weather forecasting agency, after some residents were quoted in the media raising questions about the speed of its alerts.

Officials originally said 13 people died in the floods that raged from Sunday night to Monday morning. On Tuesday they revised the figures to 11 dead and three people missing.

The downpours and floods hit a region near the medieval hilltop city of Carcassonne and dotted with stone villages on a sweep of land wedged between two mountain ranges and the Mediterranean.

Mud-swamped village streets were strewn with upended cars and debris after raging rivers broke their banks. Water rose to the first floor of some dwellings.

One of the worst-hit spots was the remote village of Trebes, where an Islamist attacker killed a gendarme and three people from the area at a supermarket in March.

The equivalent of seven months of rain fell in a matter of hours while most people were asleep.

Justice minister Nicole Belloubet said the state would fund a new supercalculator that would help to "fine-tune" weather predictions and would be on line in a year and a half.

She did not respond directly to residents' questions in the media about whether the Meteo France forecasting agency could have issued its red-alert warning earlier on Monday, and whether that would have made any difference. There was no immediate statement from the agency.

Environment minister Francois de Rugy told Europe 1 radio station on Tuesday that there would be no cover-up if there were any shortcomings in the system, but that perfect prediction of such violent weather bursts was extremely difficult.

"Weather forecasting is not an exact science," he said.</s>Flash Floods Reportedly Kill At Least 13 People In Southwest France's Aude Region

Flash floods have killed at least 13 people in southwest France, according to multiple local news outlets. Intense rains overwhelmed roads and drainage systems overnight into Monday morning; a resident in one village called it "the apocalypse."

Three months' worth of rain fell in just a few hours, France's interior ministry says, adding that some areas saw up to 14 inches. The rainwater was driven by winds up to 60 mph.

Several residents told local media that the situation sharply deteriorated around 3 a.m., forcing people to scramble to higher ground as they sought safety. The high water moved with violent force, tearing bridges away from roadways and flooding homes, as seen in video and photos from the scene.

In Villegailhenc, where at least two bodies were discovered, Nicolas Masson told Midi Libre that it was as if a wave fell upon the village – which he said now "is a lake."

In the same town, a man named Stephane told the news outlet, "It's the apocalypse."

The Aude River rose by seven meters (23 feet) in some places, the local prefecture said. Officials say it hasn't reached such high levels since 1891.

The French government says 350 firefighters are working to provide relief, with 350 more on the way. They've also deployed 160 police officers and seven helicopters, to try to help those in need.

NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reports that France's national weather agency, Meteo France, issued a red warning for the Aude River, predicting more flooding and urging people in the area to practice "absolute vigilance."

"Floodwaters were in some cases too powerful for the emergency services to get through, even on boats," France 24 reports, citing Thirion.

France's interior ministry says the government has fully mobilized to help in the crisis; it's also warning people to stay off roads and to try to limit their use of phones, to allow emergency operators to use the limited capacity that's available.

More than a thousand people have evacuated after emergencies were declared in the communes of Pezens and Cuxac d'Aude.

The Aude sits along the Mediterranean, east of Toulouse and about 25 miles north of the border with Spain. All schools have been closed in the department. The Hospital Center of Carcassonne canceled all non-critical operations for Monday, citing road conditions and communications problems.

Prime Minister Édouard Philippe will visit the site of the disaster on Monday.</s>Flash floods have left several people dead in southwest France, with roads swept away and streams become raging torrents as the equivalent of several months of rain fell overnight, authorities said Monday.

This photo provided by Stephane Jourdain, after a torrent of water ripped out the bridge in Villegailhenc, southern France, Monday Oct. 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Stephane Jourdain)

Flash floods tore through towns in southwest France, turning streams into raging torrents that authorities said killed at least seven people and seriously injured five others. Some people had to be helicoptered to safety from the roofs of their homes as overnight storms dumped several months of rain in just a few hours.

Authorities said four deaths were clustered around the town of Villegailhenc in the Aude region, where a powerful, roiling surge of muddy water and debris ripped out a bridge.

Even as diluvial overnight rains that swept in from the Mediterranean began to ease Monday morning, France’s Interior Ministry said the toll of seven deaths and five serious injuries could rise.

In Villegailhenc, Ines Siguet said the waters rose so quickly that people were stranded on the roofs of their homes and had to be helicoptered to safety. She posted video of the ripped-up road where the bridge used to be, with the town now cut in half.

“There’s nothing left, there’s just a hole,” the 17-yearold resident told The Associated Press. “It was very violent.”

Other roads also were flooded, leaving the town cut off. Siguet’s school was shut down amid the destruction.

Alain Thirion, the prefect of the Aude, said some of the dead appeared to have been swept away by floodwaters. In the town of Conques-sur-Orbiel, the river rose by more than six meters (20 feet), he said.

Floodwaters were in some cases too powerful for emergency services to get through, even on boats, he said.

Television images showed waters coursing through French towns and villages, with cars stranded in the floods and piled up on top of each other like children’s toys.

The French government rushed hundreds of rescue workers into flash flood zone and helicopters buzzed overhead. Schools were closed and authorities were urging people to stay home.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.</s>The death toll from flash floods in southwest France has nearly doubled to 13.

Interior Ministry spokesman Frederic de Lanouvelle said one other person is missing and five others are seriously hurt after flash floods tore through towns, turning streams into raging torrents.

He said nine of the 13 dead were clustered in one town, Trebes, in the Aude region. Residents watch the waters after flash floods in the town of Villegailhenc (Fred Lancelot/AP)

The official said the death toll could still rise further.

Some people had to be helicoptered to safety from the roofs of their homes as overnight storms dumped several months of rain in just a few hours.

Waters swept through roads and streams became raging torrents as the equivalent of several months of rain fell overnight in the space of hours.- Press Association
At least 10 people have been killed by flash floods in the Aude region of south-western France. A bridge also collapsed in the locality of Villegailhenc, while all roads are inaccessible in Carcassonne.