House-to-house searches after killer storm

THOUSANDS of firefighters and rescue workers searched house by house yesterday along France’s devastated Atlantic coast, trying to help those still stranded by a storm that smashed sea walls and killed at least 62 people across western Europe.

The storm, Xynthia, blew into France early on Sunday with hurricane-force winds, flooding ports, destroying homes and leaving 1 million households without electricity. It also battered Belgium, Portugal, Spain and parts of Germany and snarled train and air travel throughout the continent.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy toured the worst-hit areas yesterday, the coastal regions of Vendee and Charente-Maritime, and pledged €3 million in emergency aid.