Major floods that struck parts of France due to heavy rainfall on Thursday and Friday began slowly easing on Saturday. In many areas, clean-up and repair work has commenced. Emergency services, residents and workers were clearing streets, houses and supermarkets of mud and debris. Given the immense damage, a return to normality is not expected anytime soon in many areas. The motorway between the south-eastern cities of Lyon and Saint-Étienne, which was cut off due to the large amount of water, was back in operation on Saturday. But train services between the two cities are not expected to resu…