At least ten people were killed in violent weather that struck on the night of Thursday September 15 to Friday September 16 the Marches, a region in central Italy, on the edge of the Adriatic; which puts climate change at the heart of the political debate one week before the legislative elections.
“At this stage we deplore ten dead and four missing, but unfortunately these figures are constantly changing”announced at a press conference the head of government, Mario Draghi, expected at the end of the day in the small village of Ostra, particularly devastated.
Among the four people missing is an 8-year-old child who was in the car with his mother. The latter was saved by firefighters, but the force of the current took the child away, according to the AGI news agency. According to Corriere della Sera, about 400 mm of rain fell Thursday evening in two hours on the Marchesthe equivalent of six months of precipitation for this region.
In Ancona, a large port on the Adriatic, several neighborhoods were left without electricity and telephone. Schools have been closed in the most affected areas.
“More than 150 interventions”
Mario Draghi declared a state of emergency in the Marches and released a first tranche of five million euros to finance first aid. “We will do whatever is necessary (…). We are at your side, count on us”he said during a whirlwind visit to Ostra.
The water invaded the cellars, and many cars were carried away by the force of the current or buried under mudslides. Falling trees and landslides have cut off many local roads, complicating the work of rescuers.
“Dozens of people who had taken refuge on trees and the roofs of houses were rescued”announced the firefighters on Twitter, reporting “more than 150 interventions”.
#Maltempo #Ancona, 180 #vigilidelfuoco al lavoro: salvate nella notte decine di persone rifugiatesi sui tetti delle… https://t.co/yaVvJuwNyd
The mayors of the localities affected by these violent storms deplored the absence of warning from the competent authorities. “This event was not foreseeable”However, said Lieutenant-Colonel Guido Guidi, of Military Aeronautics, the institution responsible for weather forecasts in the peninsula.
“It’s called ‘climate crisis’, not ‘bad weather'”
“On the occasion of all the matches of the football championships scheduled for this weekend, a minute of meditation will be observed to honor the memory of the victims”, the Italian football federation said in a statement. Also, many political leaders have expressed their support for the Marche region and its population, even if other neighboring regions have also been affected but more lightly, without deploring any victims.
From the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, to the head of government, Mario Draghi, via Matteo Salvini, leader of the Sovereignty League, Enrico Letta, leader of the Democratic Party (PD, center left) and Giorgia Meloni, leader of the post -fascist Fratelli d’Italia (FDI), all expressed their solidarity.
“How can we think that the fight against climate change is not the priority”also wrote on social networks Mr. Letta. “Italy and Europe must take climate change seriously”wrote on Twitter the European Commissioner for the Economy, the Italian Paolo Gentiloni.
“It’s called climate crisis, not bad weather”reacted, for its part, on Twitter the Italian branch of “Fridays for Future”, the youth movement for the climate, while the president of the Italian Red Cross, Francesco Rocca, said “concerned by the increase in extreme climatic phenomena”.
“What happened is an exceptional event, which no one expected. Some 400 mm of rain fell in six hours on a territory where generally it falls 1,500 per year “explained to Agence France-Presse (AFP) Paola Pino D’Astore, adviser to the Italian Society of Environmental Geology (SIGEA). “It’s definitely linked to climate change, and we have to get used to it and adapt. What happened is (…) a taste of the future »she warned.
Like its European neighbours, Italy is affected by climate change. The Po plain, the largest river in the country, experienced its worst drought in seventy years this summer. And on July 11, 11 people were killed when a section of the Marmolada glacier collapsed in the Italian Alps.