Emilia Romagna flood: 13 victims, 10 thousand displaced

A massacre. The death toll from the bad weather emergency that has been hitting Emilia Romagna for days has risen to 13, and dozens are still missing. In addition to the 8 deaths that occurred on Wednesday, there are 5 confirmed on Thursday in the province of Ravenna.

In the municipality of Castel Bolognese, the body of a man was found who, according to information provided by the prefecture, did not want to leave his home when the water arrived.

In S. Agata sul Santerno a man was found dead inside his home, while his wife was rescued by firefighters. A woman died at home and is still being identified. Two people living together were found lifeless in an isolated home in Russi in via Chiesuola 73.

The death, explains the prefecture, was probably caused by the crushing of a refrigerator that they were moving. Also in the Ravenna area, a person is missing in Bagnacavallo, in the Boncellino area.

The extent of the cyclone that hit the area - which is one of the most at risk from a hydrogeological point of view - makes rescue operations complex and, above all, has caused an impressive number of displaced people, around 10 thousand, of whom 3.100 have found shelter in the facilities set up by the Municipalities.

But, specifies the vice president of the Region and councilor for Civil Protection, Irene Priolo, it is a "temporary" reception, because after the first moments "we will work for a different arrangement as the dignity of the people requires". The red alert has been extended until midnight on Friday.

The floods recorded are 50 in total in 42 municipalities: 15 in the Bologna area, 13 in the Ravenna area, 12 in the Forlì area, 2 in the Rimini area. 250 roads were closed due to landslides, which in total were 280 in 58 municipalities. About 34 thousand users were disconnected from the electricity grid between the provinces of Forlì-Cesena and Ravenna.

Difficulties in Lugo, in the province of Ravenna, where several areas of the city center are flooded and there have been power and water cuts. A situation that is still critical, considering that a red alert is also expected for Friday.

A thousand firefighters on the field with more than 300 vehicles, in addition to men and women of the civil protection, coming from all over Italy, law enforcement, volunteer personnel and hundreds of volunteers.

While pumps are working everywhere to remove water from the streets and houses and free entire towns and villages from the mud, the first attempts to return to normality are starting.

In Emilia Romagna, despite the difficulties related to traffic, specialist visits and surgery are resuming and in Bologna schools are open again, with a few exceptions. In the capital, most of the evacuees have returned to their homes and in Ravenna the first returns have also begun, even if the rising rivers have pushed the administration to evacuate other areas of the city.

The A14 motorway is now completely passable again, but over the next few nights, from 21pm to 6am, the stretch between Faenza and Forlì will be closed in both directions to repair the damage caused by the flood.

There are also signs of improvement in terms of electricity: at 18.30:18.500 p.m., in fact, 27 customers were without power, a sharp drop from 50 in the morning and 700 the day before, thanks to the work of the task force of XNUMX technicians deployed by E-Distribuzione, the Enel group company that manages the medium and low voltage electricity networks, including internal staff and third-party staff, to deal with the consequences of the wave of bad weather.

There are currently no problems on the National Transmission Grid: all lines are live. Terna is operational, 24 hours a day, at open tables to deal with the emergency. The situation is improving throughout the Marche, where the alert has become yellow, even though in the Pesaro area there have been landslides on municipal roads in the hinterland. Six provincial roads have also been closed.

In the Macerata area there were 34 interventions for provincial roads and 3 roads closed due to landslides, especially in the area around the Penna river basin. The alarm was also called off in the south of the Marche region where the orange alert had been triggered and the integrated operations room of Fermo and Ascoli had been opened.

The President of the Region, Francesco Acquaroli, has asked the government for a state of emergency. In Tuscany, the most critical situation was recorded in Alto Mugello. On Wednesday, 47 students and 4 teachers on a trip were stranded in Palazzuolo sul Senio, which was isolated due to a landslide.

Late Thursday afternoon they managed to return to Florence. About thirty landslides affected the provincial territory. In the meantime, the solidarity machine has been set in motion. Ferrari has announced that it will donate one million euros to the Regional Agency for Territorial Security and Civil Protection.

The funds will be used, explained the Maranello team, "to benefit the local populations affected by the floods of recent days, with particular attention to environmental restoration projects and management of hydrogeological instability". Another million and a half euros will come from the Association of Banking Foundations of Emilia-Romagna.

Fundraisers have been launched, among others, by Legacoop, the Red Cross, the Emilia Romagna Region itself, provinces, municipalities and publishing groups. The weather forecast for the next few days is not good. The most widespread rains will abandon the flooded areas and will move towards the central Adriatic with some scattered showers also in the rest of Italy.