The floods that hit Emilia-Romagna, in central Italy, on Wednesday 17 May, caused the death of at least eleven people, with two more bodies being found on Thursday.

Two officials from the police prefecture and the municipality of Ravenna confirmed to AFP these two deaths, the media indicating that it is a couple of farmers aged over 70, found dead in their apartment invaded by water.

Many villages evacuated

Italian authorities continued Thursday to evacuate new localities in the region hit by the floods.

About twenty rivers have left their banks in southeastern Emilia-Romagna due to the torrential rains that have hit the region in recent days, which have also led to landslides, according to regional authorities.

More than 10,000 residents in total have had to leave their homes. The rain stopped mid-afternoon Wednesday and meteorologists are not forecasting significant rainfall Thursday. However, buses have been chartered to keep the inhabitants away from the municipalities of Villanova di Ravenna, Filetto and Boncalceci threatened by the flooding of the Lamone River.

"When we have six months of rain in 36 hours while there was already record rainfall two weeks ago, no territory can resist," lamented Wednesday Stefano Bonaccini, president of the Emilia-Romagna region. "The soil no longer absorbs anything."

Two people died in the same region earlier this month after 48 hours of near-uninterrupted rain that caused damage estimated at two billion euros.

The Italian Armed Forces and Coast Guard joined the emergency effort, deploying helicopters and rubber boats to reach homes surrounded by water.

Where the waters receded, residents worked to clean houses and streets covered in mud and littered with debris.

Thousands of farms in this fertile agricultural region have been affected.

The floods have led to the cancellation of the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna scheduled for Sunday in Imola.

With AFP

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