IN PHOTOS: Storm Ciarán causes deadly flooding in Italy
Five people were killed and hundreds evacuated overnight on Thursday as Storm Ciarán swept northern and central Italy, causing flooding, power outages and road and rail disruption.
Five people were killed in the Tuscany region and several were still missing on Friday after torrential rain caused rivers to burst their banks, leading to severe flooding.
The five dead included an 85-year-old man who was found drowned on the ground floor of his house in Montemurlo, near Prato, northwest of Florence.
Residents of Montemurlo, one of the worst hit areas, began the clean-up operation on Friday after their homes were partially submerged and cars destroyed.
Men remove a fallen tree from a street in Montemurlo. (Photo by Federico SCOPPA / AFP)
People clear mud and debris in Montemurlo, near Prato, after Storm Ciaran hit Tuscany late on November 2, 2023. (Photo by Federico SCOPPA / AFP)
Florence mayor Dario Nardella said the situation remained "critical" in the city, as the level of the Arno River continued to rise on Friday.
Some 40,000 homes across Italy had been left without electricity, according to media reports.
(Photo by Federico SCOPPA / AFP)
Tuscany's regional president Eugenio Giani declared a state of emergency on Thursday night, which he said the national government was set to confirm on Friday.
Giani posted photos on his Facebook account on Friday morning showing "devastating" flooding in the areas of Campi Bisenzio, Prato and Quarrata.
Emergency services worked through the night to rescue people from flooded homes, with over 1,000 callouts in Tuscany alone, the fire service said.
Italian firefighters working to evacuate people from flooded houses in Campi Bisenzio, near Florence (Handout photo: Vigili del Fuoco / AFP)
Italian firefighters working to evacuate people from flooded houses in Campi Bisenzio, near Florence (Handout photo: Vigili del Fuoco / AFP)
In the northern region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, firefighters rescued four tourists who became stranded when their cars were engulfed by floodwaters.
Weather warnings were still in place in many regions of the country on Friday, with parts of Veneto and Fruili Venezia Giulia on the highest level red alert.
Schools were closed in many parts of Italy, including in Naples, which was under a moderate-level weather alert on Friday.
Bulldozers are used to remove debris from the streets in Montemurlo. (Photo by Federico SCOPPA / AFP)
Storm Ciarán has been making its way through Europe in recent days, also affecting much of France, Spain, the UK and the Netherlands.
The storm battered northern France with record winds of nearly 200 km/h, causing a lorry driver to be crushed by a falling tree and some 1.2 million French homes to lose electricity overnight.
In Madrid, a woman was killed after a tree fell on her and injured three others.
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Five people were killed in the Tuscany region and several were still missing on Friday after torrential rain caused rivers to burst their banks, leading to severe flooding.
The five dead included an 85-year-old man who was found drowned on the ground floor of his house in Montemurlo, near Prato, northwest of Florence.
Residents of Montemurlo, one of the worst hit areas, began the clean-up operation on Friday after their homes were partially submerged and cars destroyed.
Florence mayor Dario Nardella said the situation remained "critical" in the city, as the level of the Arno River continued to rise on Friday.
Some 40,000 homes across Italy had been left without electricity, according to media reports.
Tuscany's regional president Eugenio Giani declared a state of emergency on Thursday night, which he said the national government was set to confirm on Friday.
Giani posted photos on his Facebook account on Friday morning showing "devastating" flooding in the areas of Campi Bisenzio, Prato and Quarrata.
Emergency services worked through the night to rescue people from flooded homes, with over 1,000 callouts in Tuscany alone, the fire service said.
Storm Ciarán has been making its way through Europe in recent days, also affecting much of France, Spain, the UK and the Netherlands.
The storm battered northern France with record winds of nearly 200 km/h, causing a lorry driver to be crushed by a falling tree and some 1.2 million French homes to lose electricity overnight.
In Madrid, a woman was killed after a tree fell on her and injured three others.
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