At least 16 dead in French Riviera flash floods

Jane Onyanga-Omara | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption French Riviera floods leave at least 16 dead At least 16 people were killed in violent storms and flooding that struck the chic French Riviera. Video provided by AFP

At least 16 people died when storms caused severe flooding on the French Riviera, President François Hollande said Sunday.

Victims were found dead in the towns of Cannes, Biot, Golfe-Juan and Mandelieu-la-Napoule in the southeast part of the country, following severe weather Saturday night, Hollande's office said.

The dead included people trapped in a parking lot, a campsite and a retirement home, Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said. Helicopters were searching for victims Sunday, and 27,000 homes had no electricity, the ministry said.

Three people drowned in the retirement home after a river burst its banks, and five are thought to have died when they tried to park their cars, Agence France-Presse reported. Another three people drowned when their car got stuck in a tunnel, according to the news agency.

Hollande arrived Sunday in Nice with Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and visited the retirement home in Biot and met with emergency workers. "It’s not over,” he told reporters.

A Biot, aux côtés des gendarmes et des pompiers qui sont intervenus cette nuit pour secourir la population A photo posted by François Hollande (@fhollande) on Oct 4, 2015 at 3:07am PDT

He said the flooding caused significant damage. "The president expressed the solidarity of the nation in the wake of these tragic events," the statement from his office said.

Cannes Mayor Davis Lisnard said some cars were carried away into the sea. "We have rescued a lot of people, and we must now be vigilant against looting," he added, according to AFP.

Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims during his weekly blessing from St. Peter’s Square.

Local radio France Bleu-Azur reported that more than 6.7 inches of rain fell in the Cannes area in just two hours. Forecasters said the the worst of the storms has passed.