French fire forces evacuation of tourists near southern beaches
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MAP: How to check for wildfire alerts in France
Some 630 firefighters backed by about a dozen planes were battling the fire, according to the department's deputy prefect Remi Recio.
Smoke from the fire was causing backups on the A9 coastal highway, AFP reporters said, though the key route to Spain remained open.
Flames destroyed two houses and local officials converted a local gymnasium into a shelter, although the residents of about 10 evacuated houses were later allowed to return home.
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1,500 firefighters tackle wildfires in south and west of France
As a precautionary measure, the prefecture later ordered the evacuation of two campsites and a housing estate in the commune of Port-la-Nouvelle on the coast.
Three fire fighters were treated for smoke inhalation.
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The national weather service had placed the Aude department on orange alert for a "high risk" of fire on Saturday.
The fire comes less than a month after the Aude department was hit by a major blaze that swept through 2,100 hectares near Narbonne, mobilising 1,000 firefighters.
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France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Flooding kills 30 in Beijing as heavy rains sweep across China
Heavy rain in the Chinese capital Beijing has killed 30 people and prompted authorities to evacuate 80,000, state media said Tuesday. Intense rainstorms have pummelled swathes of northern China this week, including the capital and the provinces of Hebei, Jilin and Shandong. As of midnight Monday, "the latest round of heavy rainstorms has left 30 people dead in Beijing", state news agency Xinhua said, citing the city's municipal flood control headquarters. Over 80,000 people have been evacuated in the Chinese capital alone, local state-run outlet Beijing Daily said on social media. It added that "continuous extreme heavy rainfall caused major disasters". The death toll was highest in Miyun, a suburban district northeast of the city centre, it said. Also badly affected were Huairou district in the north of the city and Fangshan in the southwest, state media said. Dozens of roads have been closed and over 130 villages have lost electricity, Beijing Daily said. "Please pay attention to weather forecasts and warnings and do not go to risk areas unless necessary," the outlet said. In Miyun, a resident surnamed Liu said he watched floodwater sweep away vehicles outside his apartment block early Monday morning. AFP journalists there saw a crawler lift people and a dog to safety as rescuers waded through water up to their knees. Nearby, in the town of Mujiayu, AFP journalists saw a reservoir release a torrent of water. Power lines were swept away by muddy currents while military vehicles and ambulances ploughed flooded streets. Firefighters also rescued 48 people trapped in an elderly care centre, CCTV reported. 'All-out efforts' Chinese President Xi Jinping urged authorities late Monday to plan for worst-case scenarios and rush the relocation of residents of flood-threatened areas. Beijing Daily said local officials had "made all-out efforts to search and rescue missing persons... and made every effort to reduce casualties". The government has allocated 350 million yuan (USD$49 million) for disaster relief in nine regions hit by heavy rains, state broadcaster CCTV said Tuesday. They include northern Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, northeastern Jilin, eastern Shandong and southern Guangdong. A separate 200 million yuan has been set aside for the capital, the broadcaster said. In Hebei province, which encircles the capital, a landslide in a village near the city of Chengde killed four people, with eight still missing, CCTV reported Monday. Local authorities have issued flash flood warnings through Tuesday evening, with Chengde and surrounding areas under the highest level alert, Hebei's radio and television station said. In 2023, heavy rain killed over 80 people across northern and northeastern China, including at least 29 people in Hebei where severe flooding destroyed homes and crop fields. Some reports at the time suggested the province shouldered the burden of a government decision to divert the deluge away from the capital. Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer when some regions experience heavy rain while others bake in searing heat. China is the world's biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that scientists say drive climate change and contribute to making extreme weather more frequent and intense. But it is also a global renewable energy powerhouse that aims to make its massive economy carbon-neutral by 2060. Flash floods in the eastern Shandong province killed two people and left 10 missing this month. A landslide on a highway in Sichuan province this month also killed five people after it swept several cars down a mountainside.
France 24
14 hours ago
- France 24
Turkey battles wildfires as heatwave grips Med
Around 20 villages have been evacuated, officials said, and more than 3,500 people forced to leave their homes. "We are burning up, we don't even know where to go anymore," Asmin Gezginci, 24, said while returning from a park to her home in the Kurdish-majority southeastern city of Diyarbakir. Temperatures had already soared to a record high of 50.5 degrees Celsius (123 Fahrenheit) on Friday in Silopi, two hours from Gezginci's home. According to weather forecasts, the heatwave will continue this week with temperatures of 40C to 45C in the central Anatolia region and 45C to 50C forecast in the southeast on Tuesday. On Monday, local authorities in Diyarbakir warned residents about temperatures "four to six degrees above seasonal norms until August 2". In the city, the thermometer was already showing 45.4C at midday, an AFP journalist saw. The heatwave has exacerbated forest fires on the dry ground that have spread rapidly in windy conditions. Firefighters tackled blazes around Bursa in the northwest on Monday, the country's fourth-largest city and a major industrial centre, for the third consecutive day. Their efforts were hampered by strong winds fanning the flames, according to Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli. Some residents used tractors to transport water tanks, while television images showed others rushing toward the blazes with bottles of water in their hands. Response 'sometimes limited' But the intensity of a fire in Karabuk in the north has diminished, and a fire in Kahramanmaras in the south is now "under control", Yumakli said. "Given the size and intensity of the fires, the state's ability to respond quickly to such disasters is sometimes limited," he acknowledged. "If there is wind, there are no planes, and it takes hours, even days, for you to take control," he said. In recent days, 19 villages had to be evacuated in the Safranbolu region in the north, and more than 3,500 people around Bursa. In a televised speech after a weekly cabinet meeting, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 96 percent of the fires were caused by human activity such as cigarette butts and picnic fires. There were also a few cases of sabotage, he said. "Let us not forget that this is a war, a defence of our green homeland, against this insidious enemy," Erdogan said. "We are doing what is necessary, and we will continue to do so." Last week, a wildfire killed at least 10 forest workers and rescuers fighting a blaze near Eskisehir in western Turkey. A firefighter battling the flames died of a heart attack on Saturday. Three more people died Sunday in an accident involving a water tanker truck that was used to battle a blaze, Bursa authorities said. According to Erdogan, more than 3,000 fires have broken out since the beginning of summer, and authorities warn the situation will remain critical until October. A UN report on desertification worldwide estimates that 88 percent of Turkey's territory is at risk: rainfall is expected to decrease 30 percent by the end of the century, while temperatures are expected to rise by 5C to 6C compared to the averages recorded between 1961 and 1990. New fire in Greece Across the Aegean Sea in Greece, where blazes have ravaged homes and sparked evacuations across the country this summer, firefighters worked Monday to contain outbreaks after bringing dozens under control over the weekend. Even as the heat wave gripping the country began to ease, a new forest fire broke out near the university campus east of Athens, in the municipality of Zografou. According to firefighters, 65 firefighters, 20 vehicles, seven helicopters and six planes were mobilised to contain the flames. Greece has endured heatwave conditions for a week, with temperatures passing 40C in many areas. And on the Iberian Peninsula, four Spanish planes joined more than 250 Portuguese firefighters battling a blaze Monday in an isolated mountain region near their border, authorities said. The blaze in north Portugal's Viana do Castelo district was spreading in two directions and difficult to tackle because of the strong winds, civil protection chief Marco Domingues said. One firefighter has been injured. Authorities have put much of northern and southern Portugal on the highest alert for wildfires because of high temperatures and strong winds.
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
Four killed as heavy rain, flooding soaks northern China
Authorities in Beijing have issued the country's second-highest warning for rainstorms and the highest for floods, with the downpours expected to last into Tuesday morning. In Hebei province, which encircles the capital, the heavy rains caused a landslide in a village near the city of Chengde, state broadcaster CCTV said. Four were killed and eight are still missing, it said, with the national emergency management department dispatching a team to inspect the "severe" flooding in the province, where a further two died over the weekend. Over 4,600 people were evacuated over the weekend in Fuping County, while in neighbouring Shanxi province, one person was rescued and 13 were missing after a bus accident, state media said. Footage from the broadcaster showed roads in the province and a crop field submerged in rushing water on Sunday. In Beijing, over 4,000 people in suburban Miyun district were evacuated due to torrential rains. The area's reservoir "recorded its largest inflow flood" since it was built more than six decades ago, state media reported. On Monday in Mujiayu, a town just south of that reservoir, AFP journalists saw the reservoir release a torrent of water. Power lines had been swept away by muddy currents while military vehicles and ambulances ploughed through flooded streets. A river had burst its banks, sweeping away trees, while fields of crops were inundated with water. Some roads were badly damaged, with chunks of exposed concrete scattered across lanes and twisted guardrails lining their sides. The low-rise houses in the mountainous area, though mostly intact, were surrounded by gushing floods. Extreme weather China's National Development and Reform Commission has allocated 50 million yuan ($7 million) to assist relief efforts in Hebei, with the funds going to post-disaster emergency recovery and construction of infrastructure, Xinhua news agency said. Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer when some regions experience heavy rain while others bake in searing heatwaves. China is the world's biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases that scientists say drive climate change and contribute to making extreme weather more frequent and intense. But it is also a global renewable energy powerhouse that aims to make its massive economy carbon-neutral by 2060. Flash floods in eastern China's Shandong province killed two people and left 10 missing this month. A landslide on a highway in Sichuan province this month also killed five people after it swept several cars down a mountainside.
