Italy allocates more than two billion euros to areas in the northeast affected by severe flooding

Six months of rain fell in just 36 hours. The Italian government decided on Tuesday, May 23, to allocate more than two billion euros to areas in the Northeast affected in mid-May by unprecedented floods. These bad weather caused 14 deaths, several tens of thousands of displaced persons and significant damage.

“We have released with these first measures a total of more than two billion euros for the areas affected by the floods”declared the head of government, Giorgia Meloni, at the end of a Council of Ministers.

The week of May 15, intense rains fell on Emilia-Romagna, causing around twenty rivers to burst their banks, transforming the streets into rivers of mud and submerging vast areas of agricultural land and many livestock farms.

Some 700 million euros for the industry

The economic consequences of these floods could be well above the two billion euros announced. “We know very well that we are talking about emergencies, that there will be a reconstruction phase, but we are not in a position now to quantify the needs as a whole”underlined Giorgia Meloni.

Employees on technical unemployment will benefit from a fund of 580 million euros. The Ministry of Agriculture has earmarked 175 million euros for agricultural businesses, while some 700 million euros are earmarked for the industrial sector. Public administration employees will be able to work from home, and those unable to work will also be paid, said the head of government.