Floods in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna have claimed more than ten lives, destroyed homes, and caused huge losses to agriculture, Reuters writes.
Heavy rains in the eastern part of Emilia-Romagna have caused about 300 landslides, overflowed 23 rivers, destroyed about 400 roads, and flooded 42 settlements. The president of the region, Stefano Bonaccini, told reporters that the flooding was like another earthquake. He referred to the 2012 earthquake that destroyed thousands of buildings in Emilia-Romagna. Bonacini noted that almost everything has been restored since then, and everything will be rebuilt now.
13 people have died due to the floods caused by the rain.
The local agricultural association reported 5,000 farms flooded,
including orchards and corn and grain fields. Bonaccini said: “We have already calculated the damage due to the floods at almost one billion euros, and you can only imagine how many times this number will grow.”
The floods are the latest manifestation of extreme weather to hit Italy over the past year. What was once an exceptional case has now become a part of everyday life.
The government has promised an additional 20 million euros in emergency aid to the region, on top of the 10 million euros that went into the aftermath of previous floods (which happened just two weeks ago).
The floods forced at least 10 thousand people to leave their homes, while those who remained in the areas affected by the natural disaster were forced to do without electricity. Taking into account that the roads have been damaged by the floods, and the railway traffic is also limited, the airport unions have agreed to postpone the strike.
In order to facilitate the work of the emergency services, the F1 race scheduled for Sunday, the 21st of May, at the Imola track, which is located near the most affected areas, has been canceled.
The downpours in northern Italy followed months of drought and the ground was so dry that it could not properly absorb rainwater.