At least 13 people are killed in southwestern France

Sudden floods have devastated cities in southwestern France, turning waterways into torrents causing at least 13 deaths, including nine in one city, authorities said Monday. People had to be hauled off the roof of their house to get in the shelter because storms during the night spilled the equivalent of several months of rain in just a few hours.

The city of Trebes, to the east of the fortified medieval city of Carcassonne, was the most affected. The rains on the Mediterranean have killed nine people, said Interior Ministry spokesman Frédéric de Lanouvelle.

He told BFMTV that the floods in the Aude region had also killed four other people in other places, leaving one missing person and seriously injured five others.

In the city of Villegailhenc, witness Ines Siguet said that the waters were rising so fast that people were stranded on the roofs of their homes and had to be heliported to safety. She posted a video of a torn road where was a bridge, torn by a torrent flooding the city.

"There is nothing left, there is just a hole," said the 17-year-old resident at the Associated Press. "It was very violent."

Other roads have also been flooded, leaving the city isolated, she said. The school of Siguet was closed in the middle of the destruction. Two people were killed in the city, according to the regional government of Aude.

Alain Thirion, prefect of Aude, said some of the dead appeared to have been washed away by floodwaters. In the city of Conques-sur-Orbiel, the river has risen more than six meters, he said.

In some cases, the flood waters were too powerful for emergency services to cross, even on board ships, he said.

TV images showed waters flowing through towns and villages, cars blocked by floods and piled on top of each other like children's toys.

The French government dispatched hundreds of rescuers to the flooded area and helicopters buzzed over his head. Schools were closed and authorities urged people to stay at home.