Lourdes sanctuaries start reopening after floods clean-up

Terra Daily via AFP: The French mountain town of Lourdes, whose spring water many Catholics believe can miraculously cure illness, began reopening its shrines Monday after flash floods that caused hundreds of thousands of euros in damage.

Hundreds of pilgrims who had come to visit the famous grotto where the Virgin Mary reportedly appeared to a peasant girl in 1858 had to be evacuated after heavy flooding hit the area on Saturday.

On Monday firefighters continued work on clearing the 20 centimetres (eight inches) of mud on the esplanade in front of the grotto and pilgrims were told that they would have to wait until Tuesday before it reopened....