at least five dead in Emilia-Romagna after major floods

Caution remains in order. Floods caused by heavy rains in Emilia-Romagna, in north-central Italy, have left at least five people dead and thousands evacuated, authorities announced on Wednesday (May 17th). “In total we have three victims in Forli, one in Cesena and one in Cesenatico who could be a man of German nationality who has been missing for several days in Rimini”said an official of the prefecture.

The streets of many localities in the plain were submerged by water after heavy rainfall. Locally, up to 15 cm of rain has been recorded in the past 24 hours and many residents have found themselves trapped, forced to take refuge on the floors or on the roofs of their houses. Emergency services evacuated thousands of people, rescuing children and the elderly on the backs of men, in rubber dinghies or by helicopter.

The mayor of Bologna, Matteo Lepore, urged the population to be extremely careful. You don’t have to “above all not take the car, but go up to the first floor of the houses and, if there is no floor, evacuate it”, he said on Instagram. Italian Civil Protection said 14 rivers burst their banks between Tuesday and Wednesday and 23 municipalities were flooded. She called on Twitter to take “maximum precautions”while the mayors of the region recommended that their fellow citizens take refuge at altitude.