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Schools closed and trains cancelled as storms batter northern Italy

Italy's Veneto region was on red alert and 15 other Italian regions issued with weather warnings on Wednesday as heavy rains struck the north and centre of the country.

Published: 28 February 2024 11:29 CET
Schools closed and trains cancelled as storms batter northern Italy
Heavy rains have caused significant disruption in northern and central Italy. Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP.

Train services between Milan and Venice remained suspended as of Wednesday morning, having been closed since Tuesday afternoon due a risk of flooding on the line between Vicenza and Padua.

“Traffic remains suspended between Vicenza and Padua due to critical weather conditions which are causing the risk of flooding of some rivers,” national rail operator Trenitalia wrote in an update on its website.

Vicenza’s Mayor Giacomo Possamai described the city’s situation in a video message as “critical” and “very concerning”, adding that the River Retrone’s level was continuing to rise after the river had already overflowed in several places.

“There are various reports of flooding in the city, especially of cellars, there are many roads closed,” he said.

“I ask everyone to limit their movements to those that are absolutely necessary, to stay in their homes, and to avoid going into basements especially in areas close to the river.”

The city’s schools were closed throughout the day, following numerous closures in Tuscany on Tuesday.

Italy’s fire service wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that its workers had carried out more than 60 interventions in Veneto as of early Wednesday morning.

Multiple landslides have been reported in the Liguria region, including a mudslide in Pieve Ligure that narrowly grazed a school bus and temporarily cut off 1,000 of the town’s residents and displaced others.

In Tuscany, 18 families were evacuated from their homes as a precautionary measure in the town of Montemurlo following a landslide, and a series of landslides in the province of Lucca caused buses to be diverted.

As well as the red alert for Veneto, Italy’s Civil Protection Department placed parts of Emilia-Romagna under an ‘orange’ weather warning on Wednesday.

Friuli Venezia Giulia, Trentino Alto Adige, Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany, Abruzzo, Umbria, Lazio, Campania, Molise, Calabria, Basilicata, Sicily and Sardinia were issued with lower-risk ‘yellow’ warnings.

In the government’s colour-coded tiered warning system, a red alert is the most severe weather warning, indicating a severe threat to public safety and human life.

An orange alert represents a moderate threat to public safety alongside a risk of landslides, flooding, and sinkholes, while the yellow alert indicates an occasional threat to public safety and a lower risk of flooding around waterways.

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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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