At least two people have been confirmed missing while about 1,000 people have been evacuated from their homes after devastating floods and landslides hit the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, prompting accusations that Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government lacks the will to confront the climate crisis.
According to available reports, the flooding was brought on by Storm Boris, which had earlier wreaked havoc in central and eastern Europe, killing at least 24 people. Several major cities in central Europe were bracing for swollen rivers to peak on Thursday but defences generally appeared to be holding.
The torrential rain in Italy engulfed the same areas of Emilia-Romagna hit by flooding in May 2023 that killed 17 people and caused €8.5bn (£7.14bn) of damage.
Two people were reported missing in Traversara, a hamlet in Ravenna province, after the Lamone River burst its banks. Schools have closed, railway lines have been disrupted and some roads were blocked by landslides.
During a visit to one such city, Wrocław in Poland, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, announced €10bn in cohesion funds for member states left with “heartbreaking” devastation from the flooding.
Firefighters have carried out more than 500 rescue operations in the region, including using helicopters to lift people from flooded homes. “We are in a full emergency … the event is very similar to what we had last May,” Michele De Pascale, the mayor of Ravenna, told Radio 24.
Read also: California fire agency engineer arrested on suspicion of causing wildfires
There are no deaths reported in the latest flooding, which has also affected parts of the neighbouring Marche region. However, anger is mounting among residents at the sluggish progress of works intended to help protect the region from flooding.
“My home has once again been destroyed,” a resident in Faenza, a town in Ravenna province, said in a video collated by Local Team, an Italian photo and video agency. “It’s shameful; the politicians do nothing.”
Extreme rainfall is becoming more common because of human-caused climate breakdown across most of the world. Warmer air can hold more water vapour, while human factors, such as flood defence planning and land use, are also important factors in flooding.
Italy is among Europe’s climate risk spots. This summer alone it has endured unprecedented heatwaves, drought, wildfires, storms and severe flooding.
Angelo Bonelli, who leads the leftwing Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra party, on Thursday urged Meloni to explain her government’s strategy in addressing the climate crisis.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
