Torrential rains that battered southeastern France for two days have killed at least 23 people with up to 30 missing in one village.
About 10 other people were reported missing elsewhere in the region.
Rescue workers in Aramon, near Nimes, said they were searching for about 30 people still unaccounted for. The village was submerged by torrents of water when a dam broke early yesterday.
Hundreds of thousands of homes remain without electricity or telephone service.
However, rail services are being re-established between major points like Nimes, Montpellier and Avignon.
Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy surveyed the storm-battered area by helicopter and visited flood victims at shelters and in streets.
"We're here to show national solidarity," Raffarin said in Villevielle, near the medieval town of Sommieres.
He said the government would release an initial 6 million in state aid for the region.
Numerous rivers in the Gard, Vaucluse and Herault regions overflowed their banks and dykes burst as torrential rains began pounding the area on Sunday. Waves of water flushed the streets of villages, leaving them submerged. The rain let up on today and the cleanup began.
Most of the dead were from the Gard region, where Nimes, famous for its Roman ruins, is located.
Authorities said that Nimes' Roman ruins remained intact, including the Roman arena, still used for concerts and bullfights, and the Maison Carree, a Roman temple. It was not immediately clear to what extent, if any, ancient ruins elsewhere in the region were damaged.
The European Commission said the French flood victims in France could be eligible to benefit from a proposed 313 EU disaster fund.
AP