More than 1,600 people have fled their homes in western France as a third major storm in a week brought record rainfall and extreme flooding.
Storm Ivo hit areas already struggling with flooding from storms Eowyn and Herminia. Red weather alerts remain active in three regions of Brittany – Ille-et-Vilaine, Loire-Atlantique and Morbihan.
Their combined impact of the storms was exacerbated by the fact that the ground was already drenched from previous persistent rainfall.
National weather service Météo France warned that the situation could get worse in the coming days and authorities are on high alert.
River levels expected to rise
The town of Redon, surrounded by two rivers, a canal and marshes, has been underwater since Wednesday.The Vilaine river's level was hovering just below that of historic floods in 2001, but was expected to rise further, official alert body Vigicrues reported.
"It's highly likely that the peak won't be reached today, but it will be in the next few days," Redon's Mayor Pascal Duchene told French news agency AFP.
He said an estimated 750 residents could be affected.
The Red Cross had set up an emergency shelter for 50 people at a local gym. A second shelter was being set up at another sports centre for 200 people, a Red Cross official said.
Meanwhile, Ille-et-Vilaine's administrative centre Rennes experienced its worst flooding in 40 years, with rainfall around the city exceeding 178mm for January.
"Unfortunately we haven't seen the worst of the flooding," the mayor of Rennes, Nathalie Appere told AFP on Sunday, after around 400 people were evacuated at the weekend.
"It's quite catastrophic," a local resident Juanita told RFI. "I am also thinking of how the clean-up will be difficult for all these people once the waters recede."
France declares natural disaster zones for nearly 400 towns flooded in October
De-waterproofing
The city of Rennes has already begun looking into ways to manage urban development and prevent flooding.
The city's energy and climate agency told RFI that the plan is to "de-waterproof" the ground at "all levels" from the courtyards of individual houses to industrial lands and streets.
This means allowing water to gradually infiltrate the ground and prevent overflow.
On top of that, work is also being carried to restore local wetlands, which would be able to store excess water during storms.
Another solution is the restoration of agricultural land by replanting hedges, which naturally retain excess rainfall. These were previously removed to create bigger farming plots.
As residents struggle to clean up and shore up their homes and businesses, the Minister of Ecological Transition Agnes Pannier-Runacher said a "state of natural disaster" would be declared in the coming days.
