Advertisement

At least one dead and two missing in Italy storms

The Local Italy
The Local Italy - [email protected]
At least one dead and two missing in Italy storms
A flooded road in Messina in 2009. The city has once again been hit by flooding and landslides. Photo by GIOVANNI ISOLINO / AFP.

A man was found dead and two people were reported missing in Italy on Wednesday after torrential rainfall caused flash floods in the country’s northeastern Emilia Romagna region.

Advertisement

The 80-year-old victim was reportedly swept away by floodwaters in the town of Castel Bolognese outside Ravenna while riding a bike.

Two people are also currently missing in the town of Fontanelice near Bologna, where a house collapsed under a landslide, according to news agency Ansa.

As of Wednesday afternoon, rescue teams were working to establish whether anyone was trapped inside the wreckage.

 

Around 450 people have so far been evacuated from their homes across the province of Ravenna.

Storms have pummelled many parts of the Italian peninsula in recent days, causing rivers to burst their banks in Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, Liguria, and Messina on the northeastern tip of Sicily on Wednesday, reported news agency Ansa.

Strong winds in Genoa reportedly pushed a tree onto a parked car, while the island of Capri was hit by a blackout. River levels in Milan were also reported to be dangerously high.

READ ALSO: Italy issues storm alerts for 10 regions as bad weather continues

Italy's Department for Civil Protection on Tuesday afternoon issued its highest-level red alert and medium-level amber alert for different parts of Emilia Romagna, as well as an amber alert for parts of Sicily.

Parts of the following ten regions were placed on a lower-level yellow alert: Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia Romagna, Lazio, Molise, Puglia, Sicily, and Tuscany.

Emilia Romagna has experienced more rain in the past 48 hours than in the previous four months, according to the Corriere news daily, resulting in widespread flooding and forcing the closure of roads, bridges and train lines.

Advertisement

School has been cancelled in a number of municipalities across the region, and mayors are urging residents to avoid using their cars and to move to the upper floors of their homes if possible.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also