French rescuers were still searching for up to a dozen people on Wednesday, two days after flash floods killed more than 20 people.

The waters swept through parts of the Gard, Herault and Vaucluse departments in southern France after severe thunderstorms.

Many vineyards have been left under water

One of the worst-hit places was the small village of Aramon, near Nimes. Amid continuing confusion over the exact number of dead and missing there, at least five villagers were confirmed to have died when the water surged through the streets.

Click here to see a map of flooded areas

Three other residents feared dead were discovered alive on Wednesday, exhausted and suffering from mild hypothermia.

"They spent two days without water or food, sheltered on the first floor of their farmhouse stranded in the middle of a veritable lake, unable to raise the alarm," said local fire chief Jean-Louis Bailly.

The storms left tens of thousands of homes without power or phonelines.

Severed rail links were being restored by Wednesday, but many minor roads remained blocked or too badly damaged to use.

Many of the dead came from the Nimes area, although villages outside Avignon and Uzes were also hit, and the town of Orange was badly flooded.

French PM Raffarin toured the flood zone

The victims included a firefighter who died after rescuing a couple trapped in their car in the village of Galargues in Herault.

French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, went to the flood zone on Tuesday to see the devastation, and promised an initial emergency aid package of 10 million euros (�6.2m).

"I have come here to show emotion and national solidarity for all our compatriots," Mr Raffarin said in Sommieres, one of the worst-hit places.

By Wednesday the waters were still waist-high in some villages, and a clearer picture of the devastation emerged as rescue workers reached more and more villages.

Many vineyards, including those producing Chateauneuf-du-Pape wine, have suffered severe damage.

Officials in Gard said 80% of vineyards had been destroyed, and more than a dozen wine production centres were damaged.

The floods come only weeks after large parts of central and eastern Europe suffered their worst flooding in decades, killing dozens and causing devastation in many historic towns and cities.

In France, the authorities said that Nimes' Roman arena and other remains had not been damaged, but there were still fears for some of the region's other historic treasures.

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