More than 36,000 people have been forced from their homes by deadly floods in northeast Italy, regional officials said on Saturday, as rising waters swallowed more houses and fresh landslides isolated hamlets.
Violent downpours last week killed 14 people, transforming streets in the cities and towns of the Emilia Romagna region into rivers.
As more rain fell, regional authorities extended the red weather alert to yesterday.
Photo: Reuters
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday said she was leaving the G7 summit in Japan early to deal with the emergency.
“Frankly I cannot remain so far from Italy in such a complex moment,” she told reporters, thanking the 5,000 people — from rescue workers to volunteers — mobilized to help those hit by the floods.
She also thanked her fellow G7 leaders for their offers of aid.
Meloni was expected to visit some of the worst-hit areas yesterday.
Authorities in Ravenna on Saturday ordered the immediate evacuation of more at-risk hamlets.
A helicopter involved in attempts to restore electricity crashed on Saturday near Lugo, injuring one of the four people on board, the fire service said.
Six months’ worth of rain fell in 36 hours in the Emilia-Romagna region, with the floods described as the worst in a century.
The floods have caused more than 305 landslides and damaged or closed more than 500 roads in the region.
“The water began to rise at 2pm [on Friday], coming from across the fields,” after nearby canals were swollen by flooded rivers, electrician Mauro Lodola said.
“It’s difficult. I want it to be over quickly, to be able to go forwards ... to pick ourselves up,” the 54-year-old said, standing thigh-high in the dirty water surrounding his house.
Lodola choked up as he showed his ruined house, the water lapping around the fridge in the kitchen and against the mattress on his bed, which was piled high with salvaged furniture.
Outside, a white door floated past a shed, where chickens who had been moved to safety clucked nervously.
Bologna Mayor Matteo Lepore said it would take “months, and in some places maybe years” for roads and infrastructure to be repaired.
ANGER: A video shared online showed residents in a neighborhood confronting the national security minister, attempting to drag her toward floodwaters Argentina’s port city of Bahia Blanca has been “destroyed” after being pummeled by a year’s worth of rain in a matter of hours, killing 13 and driving hundreds from their homes, authorities said on Saturday. Two young girls — reportedly aged four and one — were missing after possibly being swept away by floodwaters in the wake of Friday’s storm. The deluge left hospital rooms underwater, turned neighborhoods into islands and cut electricity to swaths of the city. Argentine Minister of National Security Patricia Bullrich said Bahia Blanca was “destroyed.” The death toll rose to 13 on Saturday, up from 10 on Friday, authorities
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
Two daughters of an Argentine mountaineer who died on an icy peak 40 years ago have retrieved his backpack from the spot — finding camera film inside that allowed them a glimpse of some of his final experiences. Guillermo Vieiro was 44 when he died in 1985 — as did his climbing partner — while descending Argentina’s Tupungato lava dome, one of the highest peaks in the Americas. Last year, his backpack was spotted on a slope by mountaineer Gabriela Cavallaro, who examined it and contacted Vieiro’s daughters Guadalupe, 40, and Azul, 44. Last month, the three set out with four other guides
Local officials from Russia’s ruling party have caused controversy by presenting mothers of soldiers killed in Ukraine with gifts of meat grinders, an appliance widely used to describe Russia’s brutal tactics on the front line. The United Russia party in the northern Murmansk region posted photographs on social media showing officials smiling as they visited bereaved mothers with gifts of flowers and boxed meat grinders for International Women’s Day on Saturday, which is widely celebrated in Russia. The post included a message thanking the “dear moms” for their “strength of spirit and the love you put into bringing up your sons.” It
RSS