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Flood victim Giuseppe Beltrame: devastation in the living room

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Oliver Weiken / dpa

Giuseppe Beltrame stands in the front yard of his cottage and can't believe it. The mud that the extreme rainfall has swept through the town of Faenza reaches up to his shins. Beltrame points to the wall of the house and a brown line at a height of about two and a half meters - that's how high the water was when he was evacuated with his wife and dog early Wednesday morning by rescue teams in the rubber dinghy.

On Thursday, Beltrame returned and sees the devastation: tables, chairs, chests of drawers lie on the floor in the living room. The fridge in the kitchen is overturned. Everything is full of mud. Tears come to Beltrame's eyes.

After the storms and severe floods that hit the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy at the beginning of the week, many will begin the clean-up work on Thursday. Bewilderment prevails. Within just under two days, as much rain fell in some places as normally in half a year. Meanwhile, the death toll rose to 13. Some politicians use the term "apocalypse".

23 rivers burst their banks

Giuseppe Beltrame had hoped to be able to hold out on the first floor of the terraced house. On Tuesday morning around three o'clock, when the ground floor was already under water, the civil defense picked him up as well. "Three families on this street had to be flown away by the helicopter," he says.

Federica Pizzuto is now standing there and crying. She, too, sees for the first time what the water has done to her newly renovated house. "We wanted to move in at the end of May. The new furniture is already in there, as is a new kitchen," she says.

Faenza, in the province of Ravenna, is one of the most affected municipalities. At least 23 rivers overflowed their banks in the region, according to authorities. The Lamone flows through Faenza, during the previous storms at the beginning of May the dams had still held. Giuseppe Beltrame didn't get "a drop" at the time, as he recalls.

Northern Italy has been experiencing drought and drought in recent months. The sudden and torrential rains could not be absorbed by the ground, explains regional president Stefano Bonaccini. Because of the floods, the electricity and mobile phone networks collapsed in many parts of the region. Many drinking water pipes were also affected.

In Castel Bolognese, a good five kilometres from Faenza, a fire brigade tanker stands in front of the sports hall and distributes drinking water. People with plastic and glass bottles are queuing up to get water and take it home. "For drinking and cooking," a helper explains to them.

The military helps

Inside the hall, dozens of camp beds are set up. Almost 80 evacuees slept here on Thursday night, including several elderly people who were not staying with friends or relatives. Many guests are expected again on Friday night, says a woman from the civil defense. Soldiers have their mattresses and backpacks in the stands of the hall, and the Italian army is helping after the natural disaster.

There is a great deal of sympathy in the country. All other regions sent helpers and equipment to Emilia-Romagna and Marche, and flooding had also occurred in the region. Regional President Bonaccini estimated the damage at several billion euros, as he said on Italian television. He demanded quick help from the government. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has already assured him of this from Japan, where she is taking part in the G7 summit.

On Thursday, the highest red alert level continues to apply in the affected area, and evacuations continue. For the coming days, rain is again forecast in the areas around the heavily affected cities of Faenza, Ravenna, Forlì and Cesena.

sms/dpa/AFP