Fourteen people have died so far and around 36,000 people have been evacuated due to floods in northern Italy that have left streets underwater.
Authorities on Friday said that 43 towns were impacted by flooding and landslides and more than 500 roads are closed or destroyed, cutting off access to some villages and leaving thousands with no electricity.
Drone footage of flooding in Italy.
Residents use a plastic portable pool to remove personal belongings, on a flooded road of Lugo, Italy, Thursday, May 18, 2023.
A car crosses a street in the flooded village of Castel Bolognese, Italy, Wednesday, May 17, 2023.
Firefighters talks with residents of the flooded village of Castel Bolognese, Italy, Wednesday, May 17, 2023.
A boy rides through a flooded street in the village of Castel Bolognese, Italy, Wednesday, May 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno).
The damage is mostly located in the Emilia-Romagna region, which has been identified as the most at risk of flooding in the country. It experienced intense rain the last week and two weeks earlier after a prolonged drought that made water absorption into the ground difficult and caused rivers to overflow.
Premier Giorgia Meloni said Saturday she will leave Japan’s G7 summit a day early to attend to the growing emergency in the country. A national state of emergency is expected to be called next week as Italy’s cabinet meets Tuesday.
Deaths include a couple in their 70s whose bodies were found in their flooded apartment by their son after he had lost contact with them.
Some survivors have experienced dramatic rescues from their homes either by helicopter or dinghies. Many of those displaced by the floods have taken shelter in gymnasiums where cots have been set up.
Drone footage of flooding in Italy.
People walk in a flooded road in Faenza, Italy, Thursday, May 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno).
A view of a flooded road in Faenza, Italy, Thursday, May 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno).
Evacuees rest in a gymnasium in Bologna, Italy, Thursday, May 18, 2023. (Guido Calamosca/LaPresse via AP).
“At some point they told us all to leave the area, and about one hour later we heard a loud boom,” 29-year-old Faenza resident Claudia said Thursday, describing the nearby Lamone river’s banks bursting.
“The water just flooded all over.”
Cars can be found submerged on city streets. Multiple billions of euros in losses are estimated in the region, including from ruined farmland and infrastructure.
Trucks and cars queue in a damage highway in Forli, Italy, Thursday, May 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno).
A man walks under heavy rain on the riverside of the Po river in Turin, Italy, Saturday, May 20, 2023. (Andrea Alfano/LaPresse Via AP).
— with files from The Associated Press and Reuters.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Source link : CNN