After the sometimes dramatic floods caused by heavy rains in the north Italy In Emilia-Romagna, more and more serious damage is revealed during the clean-up work. According to an initial assessment, the damage caused by the storm and landslides amounted to several billion euros, said the Vice President of Emilia-Romagna, Irene Priolo, to journalists. In some places you have to “completely rebuild the road network”. More landslides would make things worse.
Hundreds of rescue workers and volunteers are still working to clear the mud from streets and houses. Most of the missions were therefore in the areas around Bologna, Ravenna and Forlì-Cesena. Several communities also struggled with food and drinking water supply problems.
A helicopter crashed in the province of Ravenna that was supposed to inspect damaged power lines during the storm, according to the Ansa news agency. One of the four occupants was injured, the others escaped with a fright when the helicopter crashed near Lugo.
Crashed during a control flight in the storm area, all four occupants survive the accident
The number of communities affected by the damage caused by the storms in the past few days is now approaching 100. The area looks like it has been bombed, Priolo said. At least 14 people have died in this week’s flooding and around 15,000 have had to be evacuated.
Storms also in Piedmont and southern Italy
Emilia-Romagna has not yet come to rest. In some areas of the region on the Adriatic coast, the highest red alert still applies, as announced by the Italian civil defense. More rain is expected over the weekend.
Parts of Lugo are only accessible by boat and fresh rain is expected
There is also some heavy rainfall in the north-west Italian region of Piedmont. The orange alert was declared there. Pictures in the capital Turin, for example, show how barriers were set up to restrict access to the Po River as a precaution.
Other Italian regions are also affected by adverse weather conditions. The Calabria region in the south of the Mediterranean country has to struggle with strong winds in particular. In the city of Reggio Calabria, a man was killed by a fallen tree, according to the fire department. According to their own statements, firefighters also deployed around 100 missions in Sicily, mostly to secure unstable trees after strong gusts of wind or to repair water damage.
qu/uh (dpa)