In the area, 700 units of the Fire Department, 300 police officers and a thousand carabineros are operating, as well as 220 volunteers from the Red Cross, 100 from Socorro Alpino and some 340 from Civil Protection.
(PHOTO: Vigili del Fuoco/Handout via REUTERS)
On the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, the residents of the surroundings of Forli, where the first fatality was found, had to flee barefoot and with water up to their chests, an AFP photographer confirmed.
“This is the end of the world,” Forli mayor Gian Luca Zattini said in a Facebook post.
F1 Imola Grand Prix canceled
The floods also forced the cancellation of the F1 GP scheduled in Emilia-Romagna from Friday to Sunday.
“After talks between Formula One (…), the competent authorities, including the ministers concerned (…), the president of the Emilia-Romagna region, the mayor of the city and the promoter, the decision that the Grand Prix will not take place in Imola,” F1 promoter Formula One announced in a statement, without specifying whether the race will be rescheduled until the end of the season.
“It is a responsible decision due to the situation that the cities and towns of the region are experiencing. It would not be fair to increase the pressure on local authorities and intervention services in a difficult period,” the text continues.
“The situation is critical; we still have difficult hours ahead of us,” warned Matteo Gozzoli, mayor of the city of Cesenatico, on the Adriatic coast.
The Italian Civil Protection service said that 14 rivers overflowed between Tuesday and Wednesday, and that 23 municipalities were flooded.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni assured that the government is “ready to intervene with the necessary help”.
The Emilia-Romagna region was affected two weeks ago by heavy rains, which caused flooding and landslides. Two people died.
The depression that is hitting Italy also caused flooding on the other side of the Adriatic Sea, in Croatia and Bosnia, without causing fatalities so far.
With information from AFP and EFE
