Storm Adam Flooding Hits Southern France and Corsica

At least four people have died in France, and one other was injured, after flooding caused by Storm Adam, the BBC reported. Three of the deaths were in the Bouches-du-Rhône department around Marseille, in southern France, and one was in Haute-Corse, on Corsica.

Storm Adam had already brought a red weather warning to Haute-Corse and record rainfall at Solenzara before these new deaths were confirmed.

Two women, aged 86 and 26, were found drowned in a cellar in the Bouches-du-Rhône region. Corsica was also hit by severe weather: local media reported that a 4x4 vehicle was swept away by floodwaters around midday Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026; one occupant climbed out through a window, but another man was found dead.

Jacques Witkowski, the prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône, said "the water has risen to unprecedented levels." He expressed "a thought for all those who are in distress," adding that authorities "are mobilised at an exceptional level to resolve several issues."

Franceinfo reported that three of the four confirmed deaths were in Bouches-du-Rhône, according to a toll the préfecture, the department's administrative office, communicated Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. The two women found drowned were in Lançon-Provence, according to the département's firefighters. A 75-year-old man swept away by the water had earlier been found dead in Istres, the préfecture said. In Haute-Corse, the fourth death was in Ghisonaccia, where a 4x4 was swept away around midday Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, by the Fium'Orbu river; one man climbed out through the vehicle's window, but another was found dead. By Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, weather conditions had returned to normal across Bouches-du-Rhône, despite gusty winds, the préfecture said.