Nimes, France ? Flooding and heavy rain in southeastern France have claimed the lives of 26 people, authorities said Tuesday. Rescuers were searching for dozens of others reported missing.

In the village of Aramon, swamped by floodwaters after a dam gave way, rescuers said 30 people were unaccounted for. Twelve other people were reported missing.

The flooded southern region of Orange, France, is seen in this aerial view. At least 26 people have died and dozens are missing since torrential rains began falling Sunday. At right are the high speed train rail tracks of the TGV-Mediterranee that connects Paris to Marseille.

Train service was being re-established among major points like Nimes, Montpellier and Avignon, the state-run railroad authority said. But hundreds of thousands of people struggled without electricity or telephone service.

Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy surveyed the storm-battered area by helicopter and visited flood victims at shelters and in streets.

Raffarin said the government would release an initial $9.8 million for the region.

Many rivers in the Gard, Vaucluse and Herault regions overflowed their banks, and dikes burst as torrential rains began pounding the area on Sunday. Waves of water flushed the streets of villages, leaving them submerged. As the rain eased Tuesday, the cleanup began.

Electricity was slowly being restored, but tens of thousands of homes were still without power. Some 150,000 telephone lines had been cut, according to LCI television.

Most of the dead were from the Gard region, where the tourist town of Nimes, famous for its Roman ruins, is located.

Nimes, a textile town during the Middle Ages, is believed to be where denim was first made. The word “denim” is derived from “de Nimes,” according to many reference books.

Authorities said that Nimes’ Roman ruins remained intact, including the Roman arena, still used for concerts and bullfights, and the Maison Carree, a Roman temple.

The European Union’s head office in Brussels said flood victims in France could be eligible to benefit from a proposed $492 million EU disaster fund.

EU governments have yet to approve the fund, which was set up after this summer’s devastating floods in central Europe.