ITALY: Following six months’ worth of rainfall in a day and a half, Itlay faces one of the worst floods in recent times. More than 20 rivers in Italy burst their banks, displacing thousands of people from their homes and resulting in the deaths of 13.
The most important details are that nearly every river between Bologna and the northeast coast was flooded on Thursday, and 280 landslides have been experienced.
A 71-year-old citizen was stranded in her hometown of Botteghino di Zocca, south of Bologna, and had to escape her bedroom in a rubber boat. Firefighters assisted a 97-year-old woman in escaping her bedroom in a rubber boat.
Another 74-year-old survivor said that the road became a river, and everything that was kept down there was lost. This is only one of several towns and villages in Emilia-Romagna that have been inundated by rivers and overflowing canals.
Thursday saw fresh evacuations west of Ravenna and the discovery of more bodies, including a couple in a flat in the flooded village of Russi. Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci stated that tropical conditions had already arrived in Italy, reducing the amount of water that could be absorbed. A new strategy for hydraulic engineering is needed due to no regional dams being constructed in the previous 40 years.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s administration has scheduled a crisis meeting to address flooding caused by climate change.
Emilia-Romagna’s regional president estimated the damage expenses to be billions of euros. Towns to the west of Ravenna were evacuated, Villanova residents were instructed to take refuge, and Cervi experienced flooding again on Thursday.
The Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola was postponed due to flooding of the Santerno River. Bruce Springsteen’s rock concert at Ferrara was scheduled to take place on Thursday but was cancelled due to flooding. Local councilwoman Anna Ferraresi accused officials of moving forward despite the misery of thousands of people.
Flooding is caused by a variety of factors, but climate change’s warming of the atmosphere increases the likelihood of extreme rainfall. Since the start of the industrial age, the world has already warmed by around 1.1C, and temperatures will continue to climb unless governments drastically reduce emissions.
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