Rescuers searched flooded houses on the western France coast yesterday for eight people still missing three days after a storm, which killed least 61 people in Europe.

Engineers also struggled to restore power for tens of thousands of homes.

French civil defence teams said 51 people were dead and eight missing after the storm, dubbed "Xynthia", unleashed gale force winds and torrential rains on Sunday, destroying roads and houses along France's Atlantic coast.

At least five people also died in Germany, three in Spain, one in Portugal and one in Belgium.

France's fiercest storm since 1999 made landfall early on Sunday, churning up eightmetre (26-foot) waves, surprising coastal residents in their beds and sending them scrambling onto rooftops.

Wind reached hurricaneforce speeds of 150 kilometres per hour (93 mph).

Teams of rescuers have since been wading through the thigh-deep waters and taking to boats to reach flooded houses, mostly in the Vendee and Charente regions of western France.

French electricity distributor EDRF said in a statement that 49,700 homes remained without electricity and it had 5,000 staff out working to restore power.