PARIS (REUTERS) - Two people were missing in southern France on Sunday (Sept 20) after flash floods caused by storms that dumped a year's worth of rainfall in parts of the Cevennes hills north of Montpellier.

A 64-year-old nursing assistant swept away in her car remains unaccounted for, along with a man who went missing during a hill run in the Cevennes.

Emergency services have mobilised helicopters and 700 personnel to assist inhabitants hit by the flooding, which has also cut off road access, water and electricity supplies to some locations.

Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin, who travelled to the affected region on Sunday, said some 50 people had been rescued from the flood waters and another 420 given emergency shelter.