France pledges Martinique flood aid

France’s minister for overseas departments will urge the government to quickly authorise emergency funds to help Martinique recover from torrential rains that flooded towns and started landslides.

Yves Jego said it would take “tens of million of euros” to help the French Caribbean dependency recover from the damaging storm, which he called an “exceptional and unforeseeable catastrophe”.

An estimated 12 inches of rain fell in some areas in just a few hours beginning late last Monday.

About 80% of Martinique’s schools were closed, and at least two people died and 20,000 households temporarily lost power.