Flash floods in France's southwest lead to evacuations

PanARMENIAN.Net - Flash floods in France's southwest led to the evacuation of a camping site and part of Lourdes, a place of pilgrimage for many Catholics, was closed, RFI reported.

French authorities were forced to close the sanctuary around the grotto, whose spring water many Catholics believe can miraculously cure illness.

The preventative measure came a day after heavy rain and even some snowfall in the area led to rivers flowing well above their normal levels, even cutting off some roads.

"The Sanctuaries are closed apart from the Upper Basilica," the local prefecture of the Haute-Garonne area said in a statement. "We are very vigilant although for the moment, the situation is not catastrophic."

Local officials said most of the 200 people moved were those camping in the area.

In 2012, the Lourdes shrines were closed after flash floods which caused hundreds of thousands of euros in damage.

Every year, thousands of pilgrims visit the famous grotto, where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to a peasant girl in 1858 and whose water many believe has curative powers.