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Swedish village cut off after heavy floods

A village in northern Sweden has been cut off since Sunday night after torrential rainfall made the area inaccessible.

Swedish village cut off after heavy floods

“There’s been so much water that the village is cut off. We have to continue farming but luckily there is no milk run today. We’ll have to hope that it has receded enough so that the milk truck can get here tomorrow,” said farmer Sven-Erik Andersson from the Gagsmark village to news agency TT.

“At least it has stopped raining now.”

Gagsmark, near Skellefteå in far northern Sweden, houses some 40 families and is situated between several lakes that flow into the Åby river.

It is this river which has caused the flood. Not even the spring floods generally causes this much trouble for the village. Several of the villagers with jobs further afield were forced to stay home on Monday.

“But when more than one hundred millimetres of rain falls like at the moment, the rivers will overflow, that’s just how it is,” Andersson said.

A total of nine roads were closed off to the public and a further five have limited access.

“The problem is that several road drains weren’t able to keep the water off the roads,” said Thomas Pihl of the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) to TT.

“Some roads are damaged and must be repaired.”

The water began to recede before midday on Monday.

TT/The Local/og

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FLOOD

IN PICTURES: Seine floods in Paris as France faces further storms

The River Seine has overflowed after days of torrential rain, with more forecast in the coming days and flood warnings still in place for large parts of France.

IN PICTURES: Seine floods in Paris as France faces further storms
All photos: AFP

French weather forecaster Météo France has flood warnings in place for 21 départements, largely concentrated in the south west and north east of the country.

Days of torrential rain falling onto already saturated land have seen localised flooding around the country.

In Paris the River Seine has overflowed its banks, spilling onto the quais which are normally walkways, cycle tracks and home to pop-up bars and coffee stalls.

 

Water began lapping over the banks of the river on Sunday and on Monday the city of Paris closed large parts of the river banks to access.

By Tuesday the quais were flooded and Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning brought further heavy rain.

 

Météo France's weather warnings remain in place until Thursday and people in affected areas are warning to stay away from the flood waters after  a 70-year-old man died in the northern region of Hauts-de-France after he went out to watch the river Sambre and was caught off guard by the rising water, according to French media.

 

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