Floods cause havoc in France, Germany

At least nine people ith lightning strikes which left several children in Paris and have been killed in floods that have wreaked havoc in Germany and France, trapping people in their homes and forcing rescuers to row lifeboats down streets turned into muddy rivers.

In Paris, officials were putting up emergency flood barriers yesterday along the swollen river Seine after days of torrential rain -- including near the Louvre, home to priceless works of art.

The force of the water swept away the entire stock of a sawmill in the German town of Simbach am Inn, leaving huge stacks of splintered wood blocking the streets of the devastated town.

Some towns in central France are suffering their worst floods in more than a century, with more than 5,000 people evacuated since the weekend.

Forecaster Meteo France described the situation as "exceptional, worse than the floods of 1910", when even central Paris was flooded.

Some 24,400 homes were without power in the Paris region and the Loiret, provider Enedis said, while the floods forced the shutdown of one of the capital's main commuter train lines.

Forecasters in both Germany and France were warning of more torrential downpours in the next 24 hours.