Two dead and hundreds evacuated after Italy deals with heavy flooding
Rome, May 3, (dpa/GNA) – The northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna was hit with heavy rainfall, leading to two deaths, major flooding, and causing hundreds to leave their homes and thousands to possibly face evacuation on Wednesday.
The fire department reported about 400 operations, after some rivers burst their banks, while soldiers of the Italian army were also deployed to help.
According to reports, an elderly man was swept away by the waters on his bicycle, while riding on a road that was actually already closed. Another person died under the rubble of a house, when it was hit by a landslide and collapsed. Rescue workers were searching for a second missing person in the ruins.
The regional capital Bologna and the northern Italian city of Ravenna were particularly affected, and the emergency forces had to call for help from other regions.
The regional president announced he requested Rome to declare a state of emergency.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni tweeted she was following the developments in northern Italy, which had recently been hit by a severe drought.
Heavy storms followed on the weekend, with some parts of the region getting as much rainfall in one day as normally falls in a month.
Several rivers including the rivers Sillaro and Lamone, overflowed their banks and many houses were left without electricity or gas.
Many streets were closed off after being flooded and railway traffic was also interrupted in many places.
In addition to the floods, there were numerous landslides, some affecting residential buildings.
Many schools stayed closed and the power went out briefly at Bologna airport, halting checking-in, take-offs and landings.
GNA