French rescuers backed by helicopters evacuated about 750 people, including many children and tourists, from campsites in southern France after torrential rain swelled rivers in the Gard region yesterday. One person was reported missing. After a hot spell, flash flooding hit the northern part of the Gard region, turning the Ceze and L'Ardeche rivers into churning waterways that quickly spilled out of their banks. Nearby regions - all part of the verdant and mountainous Cevennes - also were hit with flooding.

A top regional official, Thierry Dousset, told French news channel BFM TV that the some 750 people evacuated came from five campsites. The missing man, a 70-year-old German citizen, was a monitor at one of the campsites who was feared to have been swept away by flood waters along with his van, BFM-TV reported.