emergencies
Severe storms in Italy – around 900 people evacuated
In the city of Cesena, the Savio River burst its banks after heavy rainfall, and streets along the river are under water. photo
© Bernd March / dpa
People persevered on roofs, drivers got into trouble, trees fell and rivers burst their banks: severe flooding has occurred in Italy.
In the Italian regions of Emilia-Romagna and Marche, heavy rains have caused flooding in some areas. In some areas in the regions on the Adriatic coast, people had to be evacuated on Tuesday because rivers or streams burst their banks or at least threatened to overflow due to the heavy rain.
A total of around 900 people were evacuated in the entire area for safety reasons, as reported by the Ansa news agency. In the town of Senigallia near Ancona, for example, the emergency room of the hospital had to be evacuated due to flooding. There were initially no reports of injuries.
The Italian fire brigade also reported fallen trees, landslides and rescues of drivers in need. By the afternoon, the emergency services had been deployed on more than 120 missions, it said. In particular, the Savio River was flooded – people persevered on roofs to be rescued by helicopter missions. Train connections between some towns in the area also had to be closed. In some cities, schools were also closed to be on the safe side.
Because of the strong winds and the danger of high waves, municipalities on the Adriatic have issued a ban on access to their beaches. Floods and landslides also occurred in the province of Pesaro Urbino in Marche.
Civil defense had already issued a high-level warning of floods and landslides for the Emilia-Romagna region on Monday. Residents in some provinces have been asked to avoid unnecessary travel and work from home if possible. The region in northern Italy had already been hit by heavy rainfall in early May and rivers that burst their banks. There were also fatalities, hundreds of people were evacuated.
Heavy rain also fell on the Mediterranean island of Sicily on Tuesday night. According to the fire brigade, they had to go out on around 115 missions, for example to help drivers and remove fallen trees.