Tuscany on its knees due to bad weather: «Rain never so heavy for 50 years»

Cyclone Ciaran hit Italy with heavy rain, flooding, storm surges and gusts of wind exceeding 140 km/h.

The situation is especially serious in Tuscany, where there are currently 6 victims and two missing, but severe disruption has also been recorded in Liguria, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia. The government declared a state of national emergency and allocated 5 million euros "for the most urgent intervention measures".

In Tuscany the exceptional wave of bad weather hit much of the region, with numerous towns ended up underwater and hundreds of people displaced. As the hours pass, the number of victims of the flood which hit mainly the areas of Prato, Campi Bisenzio and Pistoiese seems destined to rise further: out of 10 provinces, 7 have received the status of "emergency situation and extraordinary intervention" .

«The range from Livorno to Campi Bisenzio has seen rainfall that hasn't been seen for over 50 years – announced the governor Eugenio Giani -. Almost 200 mm of rain in three hours recorded in some stations, equal to what rains in the entire wettest month of November".

Three people died in Montemurlo, in the province of Prato, and one in Rosignano, in the Livorno area. An 84-year-old man was found lifeless inside his house in the hamlet of Bagnolo, a woman died while trying to free her house from the water in Rosignano and the third victim was still registered in Montemurlo.

According to estimates by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini in Tuscany there are over 48 thousand users without energy, with 450 Enel technicians working to restore electricity. In terms of traffic, slowdowns on the high speed train between Milan and Rome are still reported in the evening, two RFI Bologna-Prato and Pistoia Prato lines are suspended. Since late Thursday evening, civil protection has sent rubber boats to Seano, Quarrata and Campi Bisenzio, areas that are difficult to reach otherwise, to carry out the first emergency inspection. The Bisenzio rivers in Santa Maria a Campi, the Marina in Villa Montalvo, the Bagnolo in Montemurlo, the Furba in Seano, the Fosso Reale sull'Agna in Montale, the Stella in Casini di Quarrata, the Bardena and the Iolo stream flooded. Important landslides between San Quirico, Sassetta and Montalbano. In Prato all the bridges are closed due to the Bisenzio flooding in the Santa Lucia area.

In Veneto, the course of the Piave river is under observation, swollen by heavy rains in the last few hours. In Ponte di Piave (Treviso), some homes located in the river floodplain area were evacuated as a precaution. The president of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia, invited citizens not to get close to the rivers. In Friuli Venezia Giulia the situation is improving «but caution is still needed. In the last 12 hours alone, 300mm of rain has fallen with winds of 150 km/hour", warned President Massimiliano Fedriga. Liguria is also under special observation.

(Unioneonline/D)