France, Dec. 17 -- Four days after torrential rain struck the Atlantic coastal city on Sunday, shock and mourning have given way to fury.

Muddy water continues to resurface in narrow alleyways of the old town, despite repeated efforts to clear it away, reinforcing complaints of long-standing abandonment.

"There is no maintenance of the sewage system where we live. We aren't prepared for the arrival of winter and rain," Reda, a man in his thirties from the old town, told RFI.

He said the aftermath of the disaster has laid bare deep social inequality.

"The people who live here are working class. Politicians neglect this social class, do nothing for our rights, don't represent us, and this is what happens," he said.

The flood risk is we...