Swollen rivers and dramatic rescues: Heavy rains and floods hit northern Italy

FP Staff • May 17, 2023, 16:54:14 IST

Days of downpour led to rivers overflowing and flooding in northern Italy. At least three people have died and 5,000 rescued. Officials in the region warned residents to get to higher ground

Rivers swollen by days of downpour flooded some towns in northern Italy on Tuesday, killing three and forcing the evacuation of some 5,000 people, While in Venice, authorities prepared to activate a mobile barrier in the lagoon in hopes of sparing the city from a rare May high-tide flooding. A view of an overflowing Savio river in Cesena, central Italy. AP

After the Savio River overflowed its banks in the town of Cesena, in the heart of the Emilia-Romagna region, some residents of heavily flooded streets took to rooftops to await rescue by helicopters, Italian firefighters said. This aerial photo provided by the Italian Firefighters shows flooded houses in Cesena, in the northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna. AP

Trains were stopped and schools were closed in many towns while people were asked to leave the ground floors of their homes and to avoid going out. Firefighters in Riccione, in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna, were deployed to rescue people from flooded homes and businesses. AP

Some rescues were especially dramatic. In Cesena, neighbours swam across the fast-moving waters of a flooded street to take a young girl from her mother’s arms. One rescuer held the child above the floodwaters until she could be passed into the arms of other rescuers. Other residents helped the mother also to safety. AP

Sandbags are lined up along a flooded street in Bologna, Italy. The nearly 100,000 residents of the town were told to avoid the temptation to view the raging waters and not to stay on the ground floors if they lived near the river. AP

This aerial photo provided by the Italian Firefighters shows firefighters show flooded houses in Cesena, in the northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna. An older man died in his flooded home in the countryside outside of Cesena, while his wife managed to make it to safety, Italian state radio said early Wednesday. AP

In all, some 900 people in flooded areas of northern Italy were evacuated by late Tuesday night, some taking shelter in gyms or schools, the radio report said. In the tourist town of Ravenna in northeast Italy, authorities urged residents to move to upper stories of buildings to ride out the storm. AP

Sandbags are lined up along a flooded street in downtown Bologna, Italy. Civil Protection Minister Nello Musemeci confirmed three people had been killed and some 5,000 people evacuated. AP

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