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At least five people have died in severe storms with heavy rain in Tuscany. There were serious floods in the central Italian region popular with holidaymakers on Friday evening, after extremely heavy rain fell.

“We have never recorded so much rain in so few minutes,” Tuscany President Eugenio Giani wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). Several people have been injured and there are reports of missing persons.

The municipalities of Campi Bisenzio, Prato and Quarrata in the province of Prato were particularly affected. “In just a few hours, 155 millimeters of rain fell. An event that, as far as we know, has not happened for at least two centuries,” Prato Mayor Matteo Biffoni said. The storm turned the streets in several villages into streams of water and mud. Seen from the air, the area not far from Florence resembles a lake landscape. Entire streets and fields are flooded.

Giani declared a state of emergency for the region early Friday morning. The fire brigade has carried out more than a thousand missions in the area. In addition, more than 40,000 households in the area not far from Florence are without electricity. The Bisenzio River burst its banks and flooded several communities. Videos on social media showed how many cars were swept away by water on a street in the town of Campi Bisenzio.

Parts of Autobahn 11 were closed. There were major problems with train traffic. In some areas the water flows were so strong that hospitals were also flooded. Civil protection was on duty at night. On Thursday evening he called on people not to leave the house.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is “following the development of the catastrophic events with great concern,” said a statement from her official residence. She expressed her deep condolences for the victims. Meanwhile, Tuscan President Giani discussed further proceedings with Meloni. According to Giani, the government in Rome is considering declaring a national emergency due to the situation in Tuscany in order to take faster measures for aid and compensation.

The Veneto region in the northeast of the Mediterranean was also hit by the heavy storms. One person was missing in the province of Belluno, north of Venice. He’s an off-duty firefighter who had stacked sandbags near a river as he prepared for the storm.

In addition to Italy, France, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany were also hit by severe storms with heavy rain and storms. The storm “Ciaran” caused extensive damage there. Several people died. (meg/sda/dpa)