storm
Severe weather in Sicily – numerous missions
Sicily has been hit by a violent storm with floods. Photo: Carabinieri / Press Office / ANSA via ZUMA Press / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Heavy rain and strong winds: Sicily is hit by a storm. There is still no all-clear for Saturday either.
Storms in the east of the Italian island of Sicily have led to numerous fire services. The rescue workers in Catania and Syracuse deployed around 160 times within 24 hours, as the fire brigade announced on Twitter on Friday morning.
By Friday afternoon, she counted about 100 new missions. For Saturday, the civil protection authority again issued the highest red warning level in its forecast for eastern Sicily and parts of Calabria.
The rain intensified on Friday night, said the head of the civil protection authority in Sicily, Salvo Cocina, on Friday morning on the public television broadcaster Rai 1. The announced hurricane finally hit the island in the afternoon.
The fire brigade brought people trapped by the water to safety with a rubber dinghy, as can be seen on a video. Elsewhere, trees buckled. In the Air Force weather report, meteorologists predicted heavy rain and strong winds for Friday and Saturday.
A resident of a small town at the foot of the Etna volcano told the German press agency on Friday morning that the situation there was okay. It is more critical south of Catania in Syracuse and Augusta, where streets were flooded, as the news agency Ansa reported.
Three people had lost their lives in Sicily during the storms and floods of the past few days. In Catania the water masses caused severe damage and carried away entire cars. Mayor Salvo Pogliese closed schools and unnecessary shops and offices.