France has declared a national disaster after violent storms battered parts of the country leaving death and destruction in their wake.
Prime Minister Francois Fillon said the move would release funds to help communities rebuild. At least 50 people have been killed in the storms that have swept parts of Spain, Portugal and France.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is to visit the storm-battered Atlantic coast where 45 deaths occurred. Many victims drowned or were hit by parts of buildings or falling trees.
“It’s a national disaster and my first thoughts go to the victims and to their families, to whom I want to express the government’s and the nation’s condolences,” Mr Fillon said.
“The priority now is to make all the homeless people safe, all the people who are still threatened by the rising waters.”
In France, Xynthia put five of the country’s 95 departments on red alert – only the second such warning since a new emergency system was introduced in 2001.
More than a million homes in France have lost electricity, from the Brittany peninsula in the west to the highlands of the Massif Central.
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