As Storm Ciaran passed through Italy, three people died in north-central Tuscany, where heavy rain caused rivers to overflow and caused flooding.
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According to Tuscany’s governor, Eugenio Giani, three people died in the bad weather, which turned the streets of many villages into rivers of water and mud within hours.
In the town of Montemurlo, an hour’s drive northwest of Florence, an 85-year-old man was found drowned in his home and an 84-year-old woman died of illness.
The small town of 20,000 residents said in a press release that it had recorded 20 centimeters of rain in just a few hours, “unprecedented” levels.
According to Italian media, a third person died in Rosignano.
“What happened last night in Tuscany has a name: climate change,” the governor, who declared a state of emergency, said on his X account.
Firefighters said they carried out dozens of operations around Florence, Pistoia, Pisa and Prato to rescue motorists stuck in their vehicles in flooded tunnels or on the road because of fallen trees.
Prato Mayor Matteo Biffoni said he received “a punch in the stomach, a pain to cry” when he discovered the extent of the damage on Friday morning.
In Florence, “the situation is critical,” warned Mayor Dario Nardella on the night from Thursday to Friday. The Arno River is expected to reach its flood peak on Friday afternoon.
Three hospitals in the area suffered flooding related to river flooding. Rail traffic is severely affected, thousands of people are without power and schools remain closed in the rural communities most affected by the storm.
The relief effort is mobilizing thousands of civil defense personnel, particularly firefighters and carabiners, as well as reinforcements from neighboring regions to transport evacuation machines, pumps or small inflatable boats in charge of evacuating affected people.
The rain stopped or eased early Friday and water began to recede locally, but the orange warning for rainfall and strong winds is in effect until 6:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. GMT).
The storm also hit Veneto (northeast), where two people are missing, according to local media.