Hailstones larger than Sicilian oranges; gusts of wind as fast as a Formula One single-seater; underpasses and city streets turned into streams; trees broken like twigs by lightning. Yesterday, in some areas of the North, the climate created fear, such as between Cernusco sul Naviglio and Gessate, in the Milan area, where a tornado hit, the extent of which is yet to be established, and is also calculated on the basis of the damage. In the centre-south, on the other hand, Charon does not let go and many cities gasp with temperatures close to or above 40 degrees. In practice it is as if Italy were split in two: like an apple.
Yesterday, unfortunately, there were injuries, especially in Lombardy. In the Milanese area, a 63-year-old motorcyclist was injured after being hit by a tree that collapsed due to the strong wind: after falling to the ground, he was rescued, first by passers-by, and then by the 118 who transported him to the hospital in Milan. In the Lombard capital, everyone looked up at around 12, when the sky darkened as if it were midnight. In the evening, other short storms caused the collapse of cornices between Cinisello Balsamo and Sesto San Giovanni. In Seregno, in Brianza, the streets in the center have been transformed into torrents of water and ice. The hail damaged hundreds of cars, split shelters and shutters in apartment buildings. In Treviglio, in the Bergamo area, a trunk hit a car, injuring a woman and two girls who were in the car not seriously. Also in Bresciano, two workers were hit by shutters blown away by the wind.
Damage also to agriculture. According to Coldiretti “fields of corn, soybeans, tomatoes ready for harvesting, watermelons, melons, pumpkins but also the pastures of Val Brembana have been destroyed”. So much so that the Region has started the reconnaissance to determine whether to ask the government for a state of natural disaster.
In Piedmont, in the Novarese area, a woman was hit by a tree and was seriously injured. The same dynamics also in Veneto. In Verona, a man was struck by lightning a stone’s throw from the Arena and is hospitalized in serious condition in Borgo Trento. He had sought shelter under a tree during the storm but an arrow broke the branches which, falling, hit him. Furthermore, a violent hailstorm in Schio destroyed entire fields within ten minutes.
Hardships also in the Marche region, on the border with Umbria, due to heavy hailstorms. Here too crop failures are considerable. For Coldiretti “hail is the most feared adverse climatic event in the summer because the irreversible damage it causes to crops and, overall, the Italian sector will have losses exceeding six billion in 2022”.
Meanwhile, according to forecasts, even today in the North, thunderstorms could arrive. Especially in Lombardy, where the orange alert has been extended by 24 hours. In the Centre-South there will be 18 red dot cities over the weekend: from Rome to Palermo via breaking latest news, Naples and Reggio Calabria.