The bad weather emergency in the North-West. Two victims and 22 missing. Two bridges collapsed

• Bad weather: a missing person between Italy and France, the Cuneo firefighters report

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03 October 2020

Bad weather overwhelms the northwest, huge damage. The toll of the missing in Piedmont is worsening due to the violent wave of bad weather in the past few hours. 

"Unfortunately, we have registered a victim in the Vercelli area, a boy of thirty-six, and according to the official data of the prefecture at the moment 22 are missing, especially concentrated in the provinces of Cuneo, Vercelli and Biella. These are the data at the moment, but they are in strong evolution ", said the president of the Piedmont Region Alberto Cirio.

A volunteer firefighter from Arnad died due to bad weather.

According to what has been learned, a plant collapsed on him during a rescue intervention in the village of the lower Valle d'Aosta.

Throughout the region - orange hydrogeological alert - problems related to intense rainfall are reported: the Gaby bridge collapsed on the regional road of the Lys valley.

Even the cemetery of Trappa, a hamlet of Garessio (Cuneo), was overwhelmed by the exceptional wave of bad weather that hit the North West.

Many graves were washed away by the flooded rivers.

The wave also carried away coffins, up to Garessio and Bagnasco.

collapses The bridge that connects Romagnano Sesia and Gattinara, which passes over the Sesia river, has collapsed.

To give the news, the Province of Vercelli.

It is a viaduct belonging to the Province of Novara and is a fundamental artery for direct traffic in Alta Valsesia and connecting with the towns of the Lower Valley, in particular Gattinara.

Bewilderment among local administrators: the stretch of road had been reopened at 12 and a direct Fb had been made by the two mayors, Alessandro Carini from Romagnano and Daniele Baglione from Gattinara, right above the viaduct.

"Never - wrote the mayor of Borgosesia, Paolo Tiramani, posting the image of the shattered bridge - I would have thought I'd see this".

A bridge on state road 45, in Alta Valtrebbia in Piacentino, collapsed today around 3pm. This is the Ponte Lenzino, between the towns of Marsaglia and Ottone, in the municipality of Cortebrugnatella, about 80 kilometers away from Piacenza.

There aren't any injuries.

The state road that connects Piacenza to Genoa is closed.

The bridge has been in disrepair for years - at the beginning of the year it was the subject of partial safety works - and its collapse could have been the flood of the Trebbia torrent, in these particularly violent hours.

The town of Ottone - the last town in Piacenza on the border with the province of Genoa - can now only be reached from the Ligurian side. 

Serious damage caused to Limone Piemonte (Cuneo) by the flooding of the Vermegnano stream.

The tourist resort is isolated following the closure of the state road from Vernante.

Considerable damage caused in the center of the locality, in fact isolated, by the stream and even the firefighters risked ending up in a chasm dug into the asphalt by the stream waters.

In the country there are blackouts, dozens of fake cars underwater, massive damage.

A three-storey building under renovation next to the waterway also collapsed.

In Garessio and Ceva the Tanaro is flooded, which in Ormea beat the flood values ​​of 1994 and 2016, before falling below the danger levels.

The Roman bridge of Bagnasco could not withstand the flood of the river that overflowed during the night in various municipalities in the province of Cuneo.

It collapsed shortly after 4, overwhelmed by the waters.

Of medieval origins, restored by the French in the second half of the 16th century, it was the symbol of the country.

Flood in Borgosesia, in the Vercelli area, where the record breaking wave of the Sesia, which reached 8.54 meters, caused widespread flooding.

All bridges closed since last night, the parked cars went underwater in various parts of the town.

Houses are also flooded.

A dozen people were evacuated from the farmhouses that are located close to the river. 

Railway traffic suspended between Vercelli and Novara, on the historic Turin-Milan line.

RFI technicians are present on site to monitor the situation.

Instead, regulate the High Speed ​​service.

Compatibly with the viability of the roads, Trenitalia is activating a replacement bus service. 

Flooding in Mergozzo, in Verbano Cusio Ossola, in Candoglia where, according to ARPA data, over 214 mm of rain fell in the last 12 hours.

Discomforts also in the Biellese, where landslides and blackouts are recorded.

It is no longer raining in Turin, where the levels of the Po increased during the night, but with values ​​below the thresholds, while more consistent increases are recorded for the Dora Baltea.   

The firefighters with rubber boats are recovering about fifty people who were stuck inside a riding school in Vestignè (Turin), in the Canavese area.

They are largely competitors of the Italian championship of attacks that should have taken place this weekend.

According to preliminary information about thirty horses are locked in the stables.

The riding school, which is located on the left bank of the Dora stream, was completely flooded by the flooding of the watercourse.

And also Cittadellarte, headquarters in Biella of the homonymous foundation created by the famous Michelangelo Pistoletto, was severely hit by the flood.

During the night the student rooms of the Accademia Unidee were evacuated and shortly after the flood took away almost half of the corner downstream of the building.

The nineteenth-century body of the former Trombetta wool mill has remained intact, but as a precaution the spaces of the wool mill will be closed until static verification.

Intense rains and strong thunderstorms in the night on Liguria where the red level weather alert is in effect throughout the territory with the exclusion of the central sector, which includes the Genoese on orange alert.

The storm line that is crossing the region has hit with intensity on the western and eastern Liguria.

In particular, in Ventimiglia, the Roya river came out of its banks at the height of the Squarciafichi footbridge.

In the center there are floods and submerged cars in the hamlet of Torri where a tributary of the Roya stream overflowed. 

On the Roya, the high levels of rainfall at the Airole hydrometric station recorded more than 8 meters above the hydrometric zero, one of the all-time highs.

"In the next few hours - Arpal explain - given the expected persistence of rainfall, the flow rates of the watercourses will still increase; subsequently, criticalities will also be possible in the rest of the region, especially in the basins affected by yesterday morning's floods".

At the moment there are no victims, no injured or missing.

Several villages remained isolated in the hinterland of Imperia due to landslides and floods during the night of streams in the Argentina and Arroscia valleys.

According to what was reported by the firefighters, Molini diTriora and Triora are isolated and without light Mendatica, unreachable by emergency vehicles.

Strong winds and storms have created numerous problems in Genoa too.

The waves invaded the streets in the districts of Sturla and Voltri and in Cogoleto.

While the wind cut down several trees blocking the roads.

The most critical situation was recorded in Sturla where sea water reached 20 centimeters in a street.

Firefighters and civil protection volunteers on site.

Paura

during the night in Rasura (Sondrio) due to a landslide which, due to bad weather, has descended into the valley, partly investing a house.

A garage and a woodshed ended up under the debris.

As a precaution, 3 people were evacuated.

Winds from strong to stormy, from the southern quadrants, concern Umbria, Abruzzo, Molise, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily, with gusts up to strong storms on the Apennine ridges and the hills of Sicily.

In addition, storm surges are expected along the exposed coasts.

Precipitations with a prevalent reverse or thunderstorm character are also expected in Umbria and Lazio. 

Mattarella calls Cirio: close to Piedmont

The President of the Republic phoned the governor of Piedmont to testify his "proximity to the territory", severely hit by the bad weather of the past few hours.

Governor Cirio, we learn from the Region, informed the Head of State of the situation which, although more contained in the extension, shows greater and more serious damage to the affected areas than those caused by the terrible flood of 1994.

For Cirio, "the words and closeness of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, are a very important support in these difficult hours. His thoughts were for all the citizens overwhelmed by this calamity, for the mayors and the institutions they are facing the situation, for the missing persons and the police, civil protection and volunteer teams who have been continuously engaged since tonight in their search and in bringing aid to the territory ".

"I am in constant contact with the head of Civil Protection Angelo Borrelli. We are ensuring continuous monitoring, in full coordination with the territories, of this emergency, with particular regard to the Aosta Valley , to Piedmont and Liguria. The attention of the Government is maximum ".

Premier Giuseppe Conte writes on Facebook about the wave of bad weather that hit the North West regions.