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IN PHOTOS: Storm Ciarán causes deadly flooding in Italy

Five people were killed and hundreds evacuated overnight on Thursday as Storm Ciarán swept northern and central Italy, causing flooding, power outages and road and rail disruption.

Published: 3 November 2023 13:11 CET
IN PHOTOS: Storm Ciarán causes deadly flooding in Italy
People clean flooded houses in Montemurlo, near Prato, after Storm Ciaran hit Tuscany late on November 2, 2023 causing the death of five people. (Photo by Federico SCOPPA / AFP)

Five people were killed in the Tuscany region and several were still missing on Friday after torrential rain caused rivers to burst their banks, leading to severe flooding.

The five dead included an 85-year-old man who was found drowned on the ground floor of his house in Montemurlo, near Prato, northwest of Florence.

Residents of Montemurlo, one of the worst hit areas, began the clean-up operation on Friday after their homes were partially submerged and cars destroyed.

Men remove a fallen tree from a street in Montemurlo. (Photo by Federico SCOPPA / AFP)

People clear mud and debris in Montemurlo, near Prato, after Storm Ciaran hit Tuscany late on November 2, 2023. (Photo by Federico SCOPPA / AFP)

Florence mayor Dario Nardella said the situation remained “critical” in the city, as the level of the Arno River continued to rise on Friday. 

Some 40,000 homes across Italy had been left without electricity, according to media reports.

(Photo by Federico SCOPPA / AFP)

Tuscany’s regional president Eugenio Giani declared a state of emergency on Thursday night, which he said the national government was set to confirm on Friday.

Giani posted photos on his Facebook account on Friday morning showing “devastating” flooding in the areas of Campi Bisenzio, Prato and Quarrata.

Emergency services worked through the night to rescue people from flooded homes, with over 1,000 callouts in Tuscany alone, the fire service said.

Italian firefighters working to evacuate people from flooded houses in Campi Bisenzio, near Florence (Handout photo: Vigili del Fuoco / AFP)

Italian firefighters working to evacuate people from flooded houses in Campi Bisenzio, near Florence (Handout photo: Vigili del Fuoco / AFP)
 
In the northern region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, firefighters rescued four tourists who became stranded when their cars were engulfed by floodwaters.
 
Weather warnings were still in place in many regions of the country on Friday, with parts of Veneto and Fruili Venezia Giulia on the highest level red alert.
 
Schools were closed in many parts of Italy, including in Naples, which was under a moderate-level weather alert on Friday.
 

Bulldozers are used to remove debris from the streets in Montemurlo. (Photo by Federico SCOPPA / AFP)

Storm Ciarán has been making its way through Europe in recent days, also affecting much of France, Spain, the UK and the Netherlands.

The storm battered northern France with record winds of nearly 200 km/h, causing a lorry driver to be crushed by a falling tree and some 1.2 million French homes to lose electricity overnight.

In Madrid, a woman was killed after a tree fell on her and injured three others.

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STORMS

Weather warnings issued to 15 Italian regions as storms continue

Fifteen of Italy's regions were issued with weather warnings on Monday as storms continue to batter the country. There were reports of avalanches and landslides in the north.

Published: 4 March 2024 12:15 CET
Weather warnings issued to 15 Italian regions as storms continue

Parts of the northern regions of Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna are under an ‘orange’ alert for flood risk, Italy’s Civil Protection Department said in a bulletin released on Sunday evening.

Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Basilicata, Puglia, Calabria, Sicily and parts of Veneto, Lombardy, Tuscany and Sardinia are under a lower level ‘yellow’ warning.

The warnings relate to “strong to gale force winds” and “possible storm surges along exposed coasts”, the department said.

The Coldiretti farmer’s association said on Monday that the River Po’s level was estimated to have risen 2 metres over the course of the 24 hours in the Turin area.

Two landslides occurred overnight on provincial roads in the popular tourist destination of Cinque Terre in Liguria, while numerous small landslides were reported on the roads surrounding the regional capital of Genoa.

Snow has been recorded below 1,000 metres on the island of Sardinia and on the volcano Vesuvius outside Naples.

An avalanche in the French-bordering northwestern region of Valle d’Aosta overnight has isolated the town of Rhêmes-Notre-Dame, cutting off 80 residents plus additional tourists, according to Italian news agency Ansa.

“We have no reports of damage to people or things,” said Mayor Nella Therisod. “Now the inspection of the technicians is underway to evaluate when we can reopen without endangering anyone.”

A further 6,000 people in the region have reportedly been temporarily isolated due to a snowfall blocking access to the upper Gressoney Valley and the authorities’ decision to cut off road access to Cogne and Valgrisenche as a preventative measure.

The mayor of Gressoney-La-Trinité, where around 2,500-3,000 people are stranded, most of them tourists, said vehicles were working to clear snow from a blocked tunnel and he hoped that the road would be reopened by the afternoon.

The winds and rain that have struck Italy in recent days are expected to continue well into this week, according to weather reports.

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