Two Die as Floodwater Sweeps Car Off Corsica Road Near Porto-Vecchio

Two people died when floodwater swept their car off a road in southern Corsica during heavy rain, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Friday, November 6, 2026, according to Reuters.

The car was swept away at about 1 a.m. in the night of November 5 to 6 on the RT10 between Porto-Vecchio and Bonifacio, according to the prefecture, Le Figaro reported. Three people were in the car.

A 40-year-old woman managed to get out of the vehicle. Fire and rescue crews pulled her to safety, and a helicopter took her to the Porto-Vecchio clinic. The other two occupants were later found dead inside the vehicle, Le Figaro reported.

Le Figaro reported, citing a source, that the two dead were the rescued woman's parents, both in their seventies, who stayed trapped in the car.

The prefecture account puts the car on the RT10 coastal road between the two towns in the south of the island, with three people inside when the water took it at about 1 a.m. The woman who escaped was 40 years old. She was rescued by the fire and rescue service and flown to the Porto-Vecchio clinic. The firefighter treated for hypothermia had helped in that rescue, the minister said. By Friday the confirmed toll stood at two dead and one person rescued, and Le Figaro reporting, through a source, identified the two dead as the rescued woman's parents.

Nunez called the deaths "un terrible drame", French for a terrible tragedy, Le Figaro reported. A firefighter who helped rescue the woman was taken to hospital and treated for hypothermia, Nunez said, according to Reuters.

Rain and warnings

The storm began on Wednesday, November 4, in the afternoon. Authorities recorded as much as 350 mm of rain, about 13.8 inches, Reuters reported. Meteo France warned of flooding and heavy rain in Corsica and in parts of southern France.

Corsica was under an orange rain and flood vigilance from Wednesday evening. For Corse-du-Sud the warning ran until Friday midday, and the Corsica prefecture opened a departmental operations centre to run the response, Le Figaro reported.

La Chaine Meteo recorded 285 mm of rain at Conca and 206 mm at Porto-Vecchio in 48 hours. The outlet reported flooded homes and cut roads, and said at least 73 people had been evacuated and sheltered. That evacuation count comes from La Chaine Meteo alone and has not been confirmed by a second source.