Graves were swept away from a cemetery in ravaging floods that caused havoc and damage in a village in southern France leaving nothing but broken vaults.
Aerial view as flood waters surged through Saint-Martin-de-Vésubie, Tende and other villages in south-eastern France. (Picture Credit - Franck Spire)
‘Rest In Peace’: That’s the goodwill gesture we show to mourn or condole someone’s demise within our close circles or acquaintances. However, in southern France, the fury of mother nature swept away graves and family tombs by a violent storm and flash floods.
In the village of Saint-Dalmas-De-Tende in southern France bordering Italy, dozens of graves and family tombs were swept away down the mountain stream by flash floods from a ravaging Roya river.
Horrific sight of a headstone atop a muddy bank with broken vaults in the graveyard where the water has receded sighted tell the tale of a gruesome aftermath of the devastating floods due to torrential rains ravaging southern France and Italy.
A local resident told the media that ‘you cannot rebuild a cemetery. There is no one left’.
Torrential rains wrecked franco- Italian border areas towards north of Nice on Friday swelling floods to dangerous level and cascading the ravaging waters down the gorges in the region.
Most Read: Kawasaki Like Disease Linked To COVID-19 Can Kill Children And Adults
The 1.6 inch rainfall ransacked the village of Saint-Dalmas-De Tendre with four bridges linking the village were collapsed and houses swept off their foundations to the churning waters from the upstream.
With roads and railway lines inaccessible, the only way to reach the devastated village and surrounding areas is through helicopters, Mayor Jaen Pierre Vassallo told the media that the flash floods and storm was ‘apocalyptic’.
Authorities in Italy briefed the media that they have discovered four bodies washed ashore near the towns of Ventimigilia and Santo Stefana Al Mare close to the border with France.
Authorities say these bodies A local French media was quoted saying ‘They aren’t recent death but old cadavers which likely correspond to the French cemeteries that were engulfed by floodwater’. Atleast 12 deaths (4 reported from France and 8 from Italy) so far with rescue and search operations underway as late as Tuesday.
Over the weekend, storm Alex have ravaged southern France and caused havoc and devastated many villages around Nice with overflowing rivers with authorities describing this as one of the worst disaster in the region over a century.
Most Read: Anne Heche Says Romance With Ellen DeGeneres Got Her Fired From ‘Multimillion-Dollar Movie Deal’
