Nine dead after flooding devastates northern Italy

CESENA, Italy: At least nine people died in Italy´s northern Emilia Romagna region as heavy rains flooded rivers and submerged entire neighbourhoods and farmland on Wednesday, prompting the cancellation of this weekend´s Imola Grand Prix.

Downpours that pounded the region´s flatlands over two days caused nearly two dozen rivers to burst their banks, putting vast stretches of territory under water and causing thousands of residents to be evacuated.

“The city is on its knees, devastated and in pain,” said Gian Luca Zattini, the mayor of Forli, a city south of regional capital Bologna.

Regional authorities confirmed eight dead, seven of them in the area around Forli and the city of Cesena. Some 37 municipalities experienced flooding, while many also reported landslides.

Two of the bodies in Forli were recovered by divers on Wednesday morning, as part of a huge rescue effort involving emergency services, armed forces and over 1,000 volunteers.

Television images showed emergency workers carrying residents across flooded streets or transported in inflatable boats, vast parking lots completely submerged in water, while torrents of water rushed through the UNESCO-recognised porticoes of Bologna.

A video taken by Italy´s coastguard showed rescuers in a helicopter pulling up two elderly people from the roof of a home where the water level had nearly covered the first-floor windows.

One of Italy´s richest regions, Emilia Romagna had already been hit by heavy rain two weeks ago, causing floods that left two dead.

This time, around 50 centimetres of rain fell within 36 hours in Forli, Cesena and Ravenna -- around half the normal annual rainfall, a situation “with few precedents”, Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said.