France's Tragic Turn

France's worst storm ever recorded continued a string of worldwide storm disasters this month. Flash floods drowned crops and damaged buildings and roads, leaving at least 38 people dead. An additional 80 were injured or missing, and thousands were evacuated from the popular Southeastern region of Vaucluse, where most of the death and destruction occurred. "It's an indescribable tragedy," said Mayor Claude Haut of Vaison-la-Romaine, an ancient Roman town of 5,000 people 25 miles north of the city of Avignon, where 23 died.