To divide
After severe storms and flooding, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a travel warning for Italy on Thursday.
Rome/Berlin – Some politicians in Italy speak of a stormy “apocalypse”. The violent storms and rains caused chaos in the southern European country. Now, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also reacted.
Since Thursday, May 18, Annalena Baerbock’s ministry has expressly warned German tourists and travelers on its website about the consequences of “extreme weather, floods and the risk of landslides” in Italy. Literally, it says: “Due to persistent, sometimes heavy rains and heavy storms, restrictions are expected throughout Italy.”
Bad weather in Italy: Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues travel advice
Special care applies in the two regions of Emilia-Romagna and Sicily. The region of Emilia-Romagna, around the capital Bologna, has been hit the hardest by the floods so far. In this sense, the Itamaraty says: “In the interior of the country there is a risk of floods and landslides”. Along the entire coastline of central and southern Italy, “storm” warnings are also issued. “Many roads are impassable and there are restrictions on regional rail traffic,” says the ministry.
Red alert in the Adriatic: images show the terrible extent of the floods in Italy
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More than ten thousand residents in the affected areas of the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy were evacuated and around one hundred serious landslides were reported. Sunday’s planned Formula 1 race at Imola has been cancelled.
Heavy flooding in Italy – chaos after storms
In the region, 23 rivers overflowed between Tuesday and Wednesday, 36 cities and communities were flooded and 48 prefectures reported landslides. Two more bodies were found in the Ravenna area of central Italy on Thursday, officials and police said on Thursday. According to media reports, a peasant couple in their 70s is said to have been found dead in their flooded apartment. The total number of deaths from the floods rose to eleven.
Catastrophic scenes on Tuesday afternoon in the city of Cesena. © IMAGO/Bernd March
Many residents of the Emilia-Romagna region have had to climb to the highest floors or roofs of their homes. According to the region’s vice president, Irene Priolo, “more than 10,000 people” were evacuated. On Thursday, authorities in Ravenna ordered the immediate evacuation of the three villages of Villanova di Ravenna, Filetto and Roncalceci after the Lamone river burst its banks. According to the civil protection authority, 50,000 residents in the disaster area were left without electricity on Wednesday. (rjs/dpa)
Transparency Note: An earlier version said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had issued a travel advisory. This is not the case. It is travel advice intended to draw attention to the special situation of the place.