Five dead in floods in the Italian region of Emilia Romagna

Five people died, and two are missing. due to the serious floods suffered by the Italian region of Emilia Romagna, where approx 6,000 residents had to leave their homes to escape the water. After an extremely dry winter, the area experienced the wettest month of May on record, causing fourteen rivers and streams to overflow. Countless roads became unusable, while rail traffic is suspended across much of this north-central region of Italy, causing delays on the national train network.

“There are several neighborhoods under water and thousands of requests for help,” complained Gian Luca Zattini, mayor of the city of Forlí, with a population of just over 100,000 and one of the hardest hit by the storm. More than 120 millimeters of water fell in 24 hours in an area that already experienced flooding two weeks ago. “The city is devastated and in pain. It’s the end of the world,” said the mayor, noting that the electricity was cut off and the highway approaches and bridges were closed. In Forlí and other towns in the area, many residents had to be rescued by security forces after taking refuge on the roofs or upper floors of their homes due to rising water levels.

“The situation is very critical. I am asking everyone for maximum cooperation and avoiding approaching torrents“, he pointed out from his side Matteo Gozzoli, Mayor of Cesenatico, a small town in Emilia Romagna on the Adriatic coast that also suffered heavily in the storm. It was on the beach of Cesenatico that the body of one of the possible victims of the floods was found. It is assumed that he is a person of German origin, although his identity has not yet been confirmed. The other deceased were registered in Forli and Ronta di Cesena, another neighboring town.

red alert

The authorities declared red level of urgency the biggest, because of these stormy rains that are already affecting 23 municipalities in Emilia Romagna. “The situation is still serious,” warned Titti Postiglione, number two from Civil Protection, as the rain is expected to continue for the next few hours. There is therefore a fear of an even greater rise in river levels and new spills and landslides.

Floods recorded during the last two weeks in Emilia Romagna, like those that occurred in the neighboring region The marches in September last year led to nine deathsare part of the increasingly extreme weather phenomena that Italy is facing due to global warming.

“The way it rains has changed”, explains Paola Mercogliano, Head of the Research Department of the Euro-Mediterranean Center for Climate Change and Professor of Advanced Meteorology at the Parthenope University in Naples. «The Mediterranean is getting warmer and this is a very important factor for the occurrence of extreme events”, says Mercogliano, warning that this phenomenon has serious consequences for agriculture, tourism and critical infrastructures.