NEWS WIRES
Wed, 17 May 2023
© Alessandro Serrano, AFP
Five people died and thousands were evacuated from their homes after heavy rains caused devastation across Italy's northern Emilia Romagna region, while this weekend's Imola Grand Prix was cancelled, officials said Wednesday.
"The city is on its knees, devastated and in pain," said Gian Luca Zattini, the mayor of Forli, a city near Bologna where three people died. "It's the end of the world."
Two of the bodies in Forli were recovered by divers on Wednesday morning, as part of a huge rescue effort involving emergency services and the armed forces.
"Overall in Forli there were three victims, one in Cesena and one in Cesenatico,", which could be a German man previously reported missing, a local authority official told AFP.
Emilia Romagna, which is one of Italy's richest regions, had already been hit by heavy rain just a fortnight ago, causing floods that left two dead.
This time, around 50 centimetres (20 inches) of rain fell within 36 hours in Forli, Cesena and Ravenna -- around half the normal annual rainfall, a situation "with few precedents", Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said.
"It is still a very critical situation," he told reporters, adding that while the rain was still falling, it was expected to lighten during the day.
The flooding caused the cancellation of the Formula One Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which had been due to take place in Imola on Sunday.
Organisers said they could not guarantee the safety of fans, teams and staff.
At least eight killed by heavy flooding in Italy, as river levels continue to rise
By Niamh Kennedy and Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, and Reuters
Wed May 17, 2023
Firemen and civil protection rescuers evacuate a woman with an inflatable boat in the city of Forli in Italy's northern Emilia-Romagna region on Wednesday following severe flooding.
By Niamh Kennedy and Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, and Reuters
Wed May 17, 2023
Firemen and civil protection rescuers evacuate a woman with an inflatable boat in the city of Forli in Italy's northern Emilia-Romagna region on Wednesday following severe flooding.
AFP/Getty Images
CNN —
At least eight people have been killed by heavy flooding and mudslides in the northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna, with more than 5,000 residents being forced to evacuate, according to local authorities.
The bodies have been retrieved from various locations, the vice president of Emilia Romagna, Irene Priolo, told reporters according to Reuters, adding that the rains were easing but that river levels were still rising.
The region, which has been suffering a prolonged drought, is under a red alert – the highest level warning or state of emergency for life-threatening weather events. The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, scheduled for this weekend, has been canceled and the site evacuated.
Fourteen rivers burst their banks in the region, forcing people in cities such as Cesena to climb onto the roof of their buildings to escape incoming water, Reuters reported. Firefighters rescued them with helicopters or rubber dinghies.
An aerial view of flooded houses in Cesena, where residents had to climb onto rooftops to escape high water levels.
Vigili del Fuoco/AP
A total of 600 firefighters have been deployed from across Italy to assist with evacuations in the region after Italy’s longest river, the Po, broke its banks,” the Italian Department for Civil Protection said in a tweet.
Residents in numerous areas across the region, including in the city of Bologna, were asked not to leave their homes.
Sandbags were lined up along a flooded street in Bologna, Italy, on Tuesday.
A total of 600 firefighters have been deployed from across Italy to assist with evacuations in the region after Italy’s longest river, the Po, broke its banks,” the Italian Department for Civil Protection said in a tweet.
Residents in numerous areas across the region, including in the city of Bologna, were asked not to leave their homes.
Sandbags were lined up along a flooded street in Bologna, Italy, on Tuesday.
Michele Nucci/LaPresse/AP
‘Worst night in history’
The city of Ravenna has also been heavily affected. “It’s probably been the worst night in the history of Romagna,” Ravenna Mayor Michele de Pascale told RAI public radio according to Reuters, saying that 5,000 people had been evacuated from his city alone overnight.
“Ravenna is unrecognizable for the damage it has suffered,” he added.
Tweeting on Tuesday evening, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni extended her “total sympathy” to those affected by the flooding, adding that the government stands “ready to intervene with the necessary aid.”
This pledge was echoed by Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani in a tweet Wednesday morning, saying that the “government will do everything necessary to help” everyone from “evacuees to those who have lost crops” due to the flooding.
In the neighboring eastern region of Le Marche, also severely hit by flooding, 200 firefighters have been mobilized for rescue efforts in the past 24 hours, according to the Vigili del Fuoco fire service.
Le MarcheEmilia-Romagna
Water disasters linked to climate crisis
The torrential rains come after months of drought that dried out the land – which meteorologists say has reduced its capacity to absorb water, worsening the floods, according to Reuters.
Water levels on northern Italy’s Lake Garda fell to record lows in February, with Venice experiencing unusually low tides.
Water disasters on both ends of the spectrum -- dry and wet -- are getting more intense as planet warms, study finds
From lengthy droughts to severe flooding, the intensity of water-related disasters around the world has increased over the last two decades as global temperatures climbed to record levels, according to recent research.
The study from NASA scientists published in March in the journal Nature Water found that increasingly frequent, widespread and intense droughts and floods were linked more strongly to higher global temperatures than to naturally changing weather patterns, like El Niño and La Niña. This suggests these intense events will increase as the climate crisis accelerates, the study says.
Formula 1 race canceled
Formula 1 has announced the cancellation of this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix because of heavy flooding in the region, citing safety concerns.
In a statement shared on Twitter, it said, “It would not be right to put further pressure on the local authorities and emergency services at this difficult time.”
On Tuesday, Formula 1 staff were asked to leave the site of the race as a precautionary measure, an F1 source told CNN.
The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is the first event of the Formula 1 season in Europe and was scheduled to take place this weekend.
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